U&rr-  - 


s 


HENRIETTA 


A  NOVEL 


BY  HARRIET  SCOTT 


MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN.: 
1892. 


Copyrighted 

BY 
HARRIET    SCOTT. 


TO 


MISS  GRACE  LIVINGSTON 


THIS  WORK  IS 


RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER   I. 

"No.  I  cannot  say  that  I  consider  the  picture  at 
all  handsome." 

"What  fault  have  you  to  find?"  asked  Mrs.  Des- 
mond, a  little  severely.  "I  am  sure  that  my  niece, 
Miss  Dudley,  has  always  been  considered  a  most 
charming  woman,  and  that,  too,  by  persons  capa- 
ble of  judging  in  such  matters." 

"Charming  she  may  be,  my  dear  madam,  as 
charming  goes.  That  is  often  the  result  of  man- 
ner, of  facial  expression,  perhaps,  too,  enhanced 
by  the  strength  of  coloring;  things  not  to  be 
presented  in  their  full  force  by  the  skill  of  the 
artist,  however  deft  his  work  may  be." 

"But  where  is  the  fault?"  persisted  the  old  lady. 
"I  can  see  none,"  as  she  donned  her  gold-rimmed 
specticles,  after  carefully  wiping  them  011  her 
dainty  handkerchief. 

Charles  Lennox  passed  her  the  portrait. 

"Observe,"  he  said,  "that  the  brow  is  rather  too 
low,  the  mouth  too  large,  and  the  nose  is — how 
-shall  T  term  it?" 

"Too  retrousse,"  suggested  Anna  Desmond, 
glancing  slyly  up  from  her  \vork,  with  an  arch 


8  HENRIETTA. 

"Too  what?"  said  her  mother  with  energy. 
"Please  speak  plain  English  in  my  presence, Miss, 
and  leave  French  for  Frenchified  people.  I  know 
\vell  enough  what  you  both  mean,  though.  You 
pretend  to  think  that  Henriette  has  just  a  very 
common  turn-up  nose  like  finy  vulgar  German  or 
Celt  might  have.  I  really  thank  you  for  the  compli- 
ment given  to  my  brother's  daughter;  hut  wait 
till  you  see  her  before  any  more  compliments  are 
passed." 

The  lady  arose  stiffly  and  replaced  the  picture 
in  its  setting,  the  irony  of  her  speech  seeming  to 
cling  to  her  movements.  She  was  past  sixty,  but 
still  retained  much  of  a  spirit  of  worldliness,  and 
of  the  dignified  pride  for  which  she  had  always 
been  noted. 

Charles  Lennox  both  saw  and  felt  that  he  had 
wounded  that  pride  by  his  two  open  criticism  of 
her  niece,  and  he  heartily  wished  that  he  had  not 
spoken  so  hastily  and  thoughtlessly;  but  he  had 
committed  himself.  He  only  hoped  that  no  offi- 
cious busy-body  would  tell  the  young  lady  so 
soon  expected  of  his  preconceived  notions  of  lu-r 
beauty. 

Of  course  he  would  meet  her.  The  two  families 
of  Lennox  and  Desmond  \vere  too  intimate  for 
him  to  think  otherwise;  and,  of  course,  like  others 
of  her  sex,  she  must  set  a  great  store  by  her  looks. 
All  women  did,  or  all,  at  least,  that  had  come  under 
his  observation  during  the  period  of  his  twenty- 
six  years;  all  but  one,  and  upon  that  one  the  con- 
versation now  turned. 


HENRIETTA.  9 

"Have  you  heard  of  Eldie's  good  fortune?"  asked 
Mrs.  Desmond,  after  a  restrained  pause. 

"Xo,  I  have  heard  of  nothing  unusual  coming  to 
her,  either  good  or  ill,  but  I  have  not  seen  any  of 
them  for  more  than  a  week." 

"Quite  a  time  I  should  say  for  one  who  seems 
so  devoted  as  you  do  in  that  direction." 

Her  language  carried  with  it  the  least  percepti- 
ble sneer,  but  Lennox  carefully  concealed  any 
annoj^aiice  it  might  have  given  him  under  a  care- 
less exterior,  as  he  answered  indifferent^,  "yes, 
both  I  and  my  mother  think  a  great  deal  of  Eldie; 
she  is  a  nice  girl,  refined  and  cultivated  beyond 
her  station,  and  withal  a  person  qf  considerable 
artistic  talent." 

That  is  where  her  luck  comes  in,  as  she  has 
sold  her  last  picture  for  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  a  great  deal,  }rou  know,  for  her  to 
receive." 

"It  is,  truly,  and  I  am  glad  to  hear  of  it,  as  it  will 
give  the  poor  child  encouragement  to  pursue  her 
work,  and,  beside,  the  family  must  need  it  badly. 
But  who  was  the  purchaser?" 

Mrs.  Desmond  turned  an  inquiring  look  toward 
her  daughters. 

"Can  you  tell  us,  girls?  I  really  have  forgotten 
the  name." 

"I  think  it  was  a  Mrs.  De  Boise,  a  person  of 
means,  living  far  out  on  the  Lyndale  road.  She 
came  in  her  carriage,  paid  for  the  picture  after  a 
close  examination  of  it,  and  took  it  away  with 
her." 


10  HENRIETTA. 

"I  have  quite  forgotten  the  subject  of  her  latest 
work.  Was  it  a  marine?" 

"Xo;  it  was  a  very  simple  picture,  and  not  at  all 
original  in  design.  She  took  it  from  an  old  family 
portrait,  that  of  an  aristocatic  looking  boy  of  six 
3'ears,  sitting  upon  a  flowery  bank  with  an  old 
chateau  in  the  background." 

"Of  course  the  picture  is  French,  and  the}'  claim 
it  to  be  that  of  some  one  of  their  ancestors.  The 
child  certainly  showed  marks  of  good  blood,  but 
good  blood,  so  called,  often  falls  very  low,  indeed, 
when  it  so  far  forgets  itself  as  to  mingle  with  that 
of  inferior  races." 

"For  my  part  I  did  not  see  anything  remarkable 
enough  about  it  to  induce  this  strange  lady — who, 
it  appears,  saw  it  at  the  exposition — to  hunt  Eldie 
up  and  to  make  the  purchase." 

"Some  one  who  believes  in  patronizing  home 
merit,  perhaps,  and  in  that  she  is  right,  too,"  said, 
Lennox. 

"Yes,  or,  perhaps,  some  charitably  disposed  per- 
son, who,  having  heard  of  the  situation  of  the 
family,  thought  to  help  them  by  this  means.  I 
suppose  that  it  is  really  a  good  thing  enough  that 
the  girl  has  a  turn  for  painting,  as  God  seems,  in 
most  of  cases,  to  fit  the  back  to  the  burden;  but 
under  different  circumstances,  that  is,  in  a  better 
frame  of  fortune,  I  should  deem  a  gift  of  that  sort 
in  a  woman  a  drawback  of  a  most  decided  cast. 
It  is  so  apt  to  encourage  and  strengthen  those  far- 
reaching  aspirations  which  more  properly  belong 
to  the  opposite  sex.  Xow,  I  don't  want  my 


HENRIETTA.  H 

daughters  to  be  anything  but  good,  quiet  women, 
with  thoroughly  domestic  tendencies,  good  house- 
keepers, and,  in  due  time,  if  fortune  so  \vill  it, 
that  they  marry  and  be  good  wives  to  the  men 
who  shall  choose  them." 

The  girls,  twins  of  sixteen,  blushed  at  their 
mother's  plain  discourse. 

They  were  rather  tall  for  their  age,  with  the 
slender  rounded  form  usual  to  their  time  of  life, 
with  fair  complexion,  very  light  brown  hair, 
irregular  features,  and  each  of  them  a  pair  of  large 
expressionless  blue  eyes.  Their  general  appear- 
ance was  so  nearly  alike  that  strangers  found  a 
difficulty  in  telling  them  apart. 

Modest,  innocent  looking  girls  enough,  \vitli 
every  appearance  of  the  simple  mediocrity  which 
would  give  their  parent  no  anxiety  on  the  score  of 
talent  of  any  kind  that  might  lead  them  out  of  the 
circumscribed  orbit  to  which  she  firmly  believed 
all  women  of  right^belonged. 

Lennox  arose  and  stepped  toward  the  open  piano 
where  the  girls  had  been  practicing  their  lessons 
in  the  early  part  of  the  evening,  and,  wishing  to 
divert  the  attention  of  the  little  group  into  a  dif- 
ferent and  more  agreeable  channel,  he  seated 
himself  in  front  of  it,  and  running  his  fingers 
lightly  over  the  keys  he  dashed  off  into  a  lively 
\valtz,  which  somewhat  shocked  Mrs.  Desmond,  as 
she  had  come  very  near  to  a  solemn  vow  at  the 
time  the  organ  had  been  exchanged  for  a  piano, 
that  nothing  but  sacred  music  should  come  from 
it;  the  same  as  she  had  always  been  accustomed 


12  HENRIETTA. 

to,  for  the  lady  had  been  a  most  conscientious 
church  member  for  thirty  years  and  more,  and,  in 
consequence,  somewhat  severe  in  her  ideas  of 
worldly  amusement. 

But  Lennox  did  not,  perhaps,  know  this,  or  if 
he  did,  he  ignored  the  fact  and  kept  011  after  the 
\valtz  was  finished,  with  other  lively  airs,  and, 
indeed,  so  excellent  was  the  execution,  and  so 
grandly  Appolo-like  his  movements,  that  she  was 
charmed  in  spite  of  herself.  She  sincerely 
admired  this  young  man,  at  any  rate,  and  as  she 
had  always  a  most  overwhelming  passion  for 
match-making,  had  set  her  heart  upon  a  union 
between  her  niece,  Henrietta  Dudley,  so  soon 
expected  from  her  home  in  Pennsylvania  to  spend 
the  season  with  her. 

Hence  her  tolerance  of  his  present  liberty,  and 
hence  the  sarcastic  flings  and  disparaging  remarks 
she  had  cast  toward  the  young  artist,  Eldie  Jaii- 
neaux,  for  whom  she  feared  he,  might  be  forming 
an  attachment. 

She  was  likewise  well  pleased  with  his  mother, 
a  most  fine  and  well-bred  woman,  and,  indeed,  with 
all  his  relatives,  some  of  whom  occupied  an  ele- 
vated social  position  in  St.  Paul,  and  what  pres- 
tige it  would  give  her  and  hers  to  be  connected 
with  such  people;  besides,  there  was  the  pros- 
pect of  quite  a  nice  fortune  to  come  to  him  some 
day,  when  his  only  surviving  parent  should 
depart  this  life. 

She  never  for  a  moment  thought  of  either  of  her 
own  daughters  in  connection  with  this  union  of 


HENRIETTA.  13 

families,  for  the  reason  that  they  were  too  young 
by  several  N'ears  to  think  of  marriage;  and  by  the 
time  they  \vould  reach  the  proper  age,  this  man, 
with  his  fair  admiration  for  women,  his  winning 
manners  and  magnificent  bearing,  would,  in  all 
probability,  be  a  husband. 

He  requested  the  girls  to  sing  a  duet,  a  simple 
composition  in  which  he  had  heard  them  before, 
and  with  their  mother's  consent  their  pieces  of 
work  in  Kensington  were  carefully  laid  aside,  and 
they  complied  with  his  request. 

The  song  finished,  Lennox  arose  to  go,  and  after 
shaking  hands  with  Mrs.  Desmond,  by  "way  of  a 
sort  of  apology,  perhaps,  for  the  uiiamiable  feel- 
ings his  words  had  stirred  in  her  breast,  he 
politely  bowed  to  the  rest  and  left  the  house. 

In  the  room,  beside  Mrs  Desmond  and  the  two 
girls,  there  was  another  person,  quietly  sitting 
back  in  the  shadow  formed  by  a  frame  of  flower- 
ing plants,  as  silent  and  unobtrusive  during  the 
conversation  with  their  visitor  as  the  plants 
themselves. 

It  was  John  Desmond,  the  girls'  brother,  who, 
although  saying  little  or  nothing,  had,  like  most 
untalkative  people,  noted  all  that  was  said  with 
the  most  minute  exactness. 

"I  declare,"  said  Mrs.  Desmond,  looking  out  of 
the  south  window,  "if  Charles  isn't  going  down 
to  the  Janneaux's  to-night,  late  as  it  is." 

"  I  guess  he  must  be  in  love  with  Kldie,  for  cer- 
tain," said  vSarah,  as  she  assisted  her  sister  to  close 
the  piano  and  arrange  the  scattered  pieces  of 


14  HENRIETTA. 

music;  "and  you  will  be  out,  John."  She  cast  a 
mischievous  look  at  her  brother  as  she  spoke. 

John  tried  to  smile,  but  it  was  evident  that  his 
heart  was  too  sad.  Mrs.  Desmond  looked  toward 
him  with  surprise.  It  was  the  first  intimation 
she  had  received  that  her  son,  too,  might  be 
affected  by  the  fair  young  girl  artist. 

The  two  girls  went  into  the  kitchen  to  see  if 
Christine,  the  Swedish  maid,  had  ironed  their 
white  aprons  yet,  leaving  John  and  his  mother 
alone. 

"I  didn't  know,  John,  that  you  cared  anything 
for  Eldie.  Is  it  true  ?  " 

The  young  man  moved  uneasily  in  his  chair, 
and  looked  toward  the  floor.  He  did  not  like  a 
question  quite  so  pointed,  but  he  resolved  in  his 
mind  that  he  must  make  some  sort  of  answer,  and 
the  truth  seemed  to  him  the  best. 

"Yes,  mother,  I  do  care  quite  a  good  deal  for 
Eldie,  more  than  any  girl  I  have  ever  met,  and 
would  make  her  my  wife,  although  I  well  know 
that  her  culture  and  refinement,  to  say  nothing  of 
natural  ability,  would  be  an  unequal  match  with 
the  coarser  parts  of  a  plain  farmer  like  myself." 

"You  are  right  there,  1113-  son  ;  she  would  just 
make  no  match  for  you  at  all.  I  guess  I  have 
traveled  long  enough  through  this  world,  and 
seen  enough  -to  know  that  such  women  as  she  is 
never  can  make  housekeepers,  and  that  is  what 
you  want— a  good,  sensible  girl,  who  will  know 
her  place  as  a  wife,  have  your  interest  always  the 
first  in  her  mind,  who  will  make  her  home  and 


HENRIETTA.  15 

yours  the  center  of  her  attention,  instead  of  look- 
ing out  into  the  world  after  fame  and  the  admira- 
tion of  the  vulgar  crowd.  Then  you  kiioxv  as  well 
as  I  what  the  neighborhood  whisper  is  in  regard 
to  Eldie's  antecedents." 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  something  of  it,"  he  said,  his 
face  now  flushed  with  anger  ;  "and  sometimes 
these  silly  neighborhood  whispers  are  more  dis- 
astrous in  their  consequences  than  the  most  ter- 
tilic  tornado  or  cyclone.  These  can  onhT  destroy 
property  and  life,  but  the  first  can  take  away 
honor  and  reputation,  things  which  to  all  persons 
should  be  dearer  than  life." 

The  young  man  had  arisen  during  this  outburst 
of  passion,  and  was  now  walking  the  floor  at  a 
rapid  pace,  his  hands  clenched  nervously  behind 
him. 

"  I,"  he  said,  "have  never  taken  much  account 
of  this  report.  But  you  must  have,  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  you  spoke  to  Lennox  to-night  about 
the  mingling  of  bloods.  I  saw  }Tour  drift,  if  he 
did  riot,  and  must  say  that  I  thought  it  in  exceed- 
ingly bad  taste,  inasmuch  as  it  displayed  a  vindic- 
tive spirit  toward  one  who  has  never  harmed 
either  you  or  yours." 

"I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  she  replied  ;  "not  if 
she  has  stolen  your  heart  by  her  wiles,  my  son. 
But  let  me  ask  you  one  more  question  and  I  have 
done  for  the  present.  It  is  this  :  In  case  the  story 
of  Kldie's  parentage  be  true — that  is,  should  be 
proved  without  a  doubt  —  how,  then,  would  you 
stand  in  regard  to  the  matter?" 


16  HENRIETTA. 

John  was  more  exasperated  than  ever  at  the 
idea  of  his  mother  speaking  of  Eldie  using  undue 
arts  to  win  him.  Turning  to  her  squarely,  he 
said  :  "I  should  stand  then  precisely  as  I  do  now, 
knowing  that  I  love  her  dearer  than  my  own  life. 
I  would  marry  her  at  any  rate,  good  and  pure  as 
she  is.  No  responsibility  rests  upon  her  for  the 
blood  of  her  ancestors.  If  it  be  true  —  which  I 
very  much  doubt  —  you  must  admit  that  the 
Indian  is  a  long  way  back,  as  neither  Eldie  nor 
her  sister  show  the  least  trace  of  it." 

"  I  don't  know  that  they  do,  but  you  know  that 
one  cannot  always  tell  from  appearances  in  such 
matters,  and  there  are  those  who  pretend  to  see 
their  lineage  plainly  enough  in  their  features  ; 
but  I  promised  to  say  no  more  to  you  on  the  sub- 
ject at  present.  You  have  made  me  an  honest 
answer,  and  I  must  bear  it,  displeasing  as  it  is  to 
me  and  will  also  be,  I  am  sure,  to  your  father 
when  he  hears  of  it.  Good  night,  now,  my  son," 
and  she  drew  his  head  down  for  a  kiss  ;  "don't  let 
this  interview  disturb  you,  but  go  to  bed  and  sleep 
at  once." 

He  did  neither. 

There  were  other  and  more  distracting  thoughts 
in  his  mind  than  those  engendered  by  his  mother's 
words — the  thoughts  of  jealous  rivalry,  awaken- 
ing to  him  slowly  but  surely,  by  Charles  Lennox's 
attentions  toward  the  object  of  his  love.  Instead 
of  retiring,  he  sat  at  the  window  of  his  chamber 
above,  looking  moodily  out  over  the  lake  in  front 
of  him;  a  sheet  of  silver  in  the  moon's  rays  set  in 


HENRIETTA.  17 

its  dark  border  of  sedge  and  rushes;  a  calm  scene 
with  not  a  sound  to  disturb  its  quiet,  except  the 
least  perceptible  wave  of  steam  borne  up  on  the 
night  breeze  from  the  busy  city. 

An  hour  later  he  saw  Lennox  coming  from  the 
direction  of  the  Janneaux  cottage  along  the  smooth 
drive  which  skirted  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake 
and  led  up  to  his  mother's  grounds  and  residence. 

Pie  looked  after  him  with  a  pang  of  bitter  hatred, 
the  first  he  had  ever  felt  of  so  decided  a  nature 
toward  him,  or  any  other  creature  for  that  matter, 
and  wondered  whether  Eldie  cared  much  for  him 
and  his  fine  scholarly  attainments  so  far  beyond 
his  own  plainer  ones. 

Below  stairs  in  her  bit  of  a  chamber,  his  mother 
also  lay  long  awake,  thinking  over  the  sudden 
revelation  which  had  been  made  to  her  by  her 
dearly  loved  son — the  only  one  left  to  her  from 
the  hand  of  Death  among  five  —  the  son  whose 
happiness  lay  very  close  to  her  heart;  and  who 
no\v,  it  seemed  to  her,  was  in  a  fair  way  of  marr- 
ing that  happiness  for  life  by  his  strong  love  for 
this  girl,  Eldie  Janneaux,  whose  ways  and  dispo- 
sition she  never  could  think  suitable  for  him,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  tales  which  had  been  circu- 
lated around  in  the  community  about  her  having 
an  Indian  ancestor  back  somewhere  in  the  past. 

Of  course,  that  might  not  really  injure  the  girl, 
but  there  was  the  eternal  law  of  heredity  staring 
her  in  the  face,  a  law  which  might  come  turning 
up,  the  good  Lord  only  could  tell  for  how  many 
generations  after,  with  its  hideous  face. 


18  JIKXRIETTA. 

She  had  read  but  receritl}-  of  a  marriage  of  that 
sort  where  the  effected  party  was  entirely  free,  so 
far  as  could  be  observed,  of  tiny  taint;  but  the 
children  born  of  her  had  strongly  marked  features, 
denoting  their  descent,  and  their  characteristics 
agreed  with  their  looks.  What  happened  in  that 
case  might  happen  again.  Could  anything  be 
more  horrible  than  for  John  to  have  children,  her 
grandchildren,  running  about  with  a  penchant  for 
ornaments  of  feathers  and  for  tomahawks  ! 

Still,  this  part  of  the  girl's  histor}"  might  have 
no  truth  in  it;  might  be,  for  aught  she  knew,  ;in 
idle  report;  yet  it  had  certainly  gained  quite  a 
wide  circulation  in  the  suburban  settlement 
around  them.  To  tell  the  truth,  none  had  been 
more  instrumental  in  this  circulation  than  >Irs. 
Desmond  herself,  for  the  lady  was  a  good  deal 
of  a  gossip,  and  reall}'  considered  it  110  harm 
to  tell  all  she  knew  or  heard  about  people,  good 
or  ill. 

She  had  not  originated  among  a  people  who 
held  a  better  doctrine,  and  she  had  never  taken 
sufficient  thought  on  the  subject  to  create  one  of 
her  own. 

To  be  sure,  she  once  picked  up  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic prayer-book,  left  in  her  kitchen  by  an  Irish 
servant,  and  cursorily  turning  over  its  pages,  saw 
there  recorded  that  it  is  as  great  a  sin  to  tell  an 
injurious  truth  as  it  is  to  formulate  or  report  a 
noxious  falsehood.  She  gave  the  reading  but  a 
momentary  consideration,  coming  as  it  did  from 
such  a  source. 


HKXKIETTA.  19 

To  her  the  old  Romish  church  meant  the  beast 
with  the  seven  heads,  which  had  received  a  dead- 
ly wound  in  one  of  them  at  the  time  of  the  reforma- 
tion, and  the  modern  Romish  Church  was  the 
beast  with  the  two  horns,  as  bad  as  the  old  one, 
because  it  teaches  that  the  first  knew  no  error. 
This,  according  to  an  interpetation  of  a  part  of  the 
version  of  John  the  Revelator,  and  could  anything 
good  come  out  of  Nazareth? 

At  any  rate,  she  did  not  like  the  idea  of  John's 
marrying  Eldie,  be  the  story  true  or  false,  and,  if 
possible,  she  would  prevent  it. 

If  young  Lennox  saw  fit  to  get  himself  and 
family  into  trouble  b}T  such  an  alliance,  wli3T,  of 
course,  that  was  his  own  lookout.  She  would 
much  rather  it  were  he  than  her  son ;  so  she 
made  up  her  mind  to  relinquish  all  thoughts  of 
having  him  for  a  husband  for  Hetty,  but  instead 
to  do  all  in  her  power  to  encourage  him  in  the 
way  his  present  inclinations  seemed  somewhat 
trending. 


20  HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER  II. 

It  was  a  festal  day  for  William  Clipper. 

His  name  was  a  misname,  for  he  was  not  the 
least  bit  like  the  craft  of  that  name  on  ordinary 
occasions,  but  more  like  a  heavily-laden  freight 
ship  as  he  moved  about  with  the  slow  but  meas- 
ured tread  of  a  man  who  never  allowed  anything 
to  push  him,  nor  cared  to  push  anything  himself 
to  any  great  extent. 

But  he  was  unusually  happy  just  now,  for  he 
had  made  a  great  haul  of  fish  the  day  before,  not 
in  the  little  lake,  but  in  a  stream  a  few  miles  above 
where  pickerel  were  in  abundance.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  lake  but  cat-fish  and  no  one  around 
there  cared  for  them  but  his  neighbors,  the  Jaax 
family. 

He  had  just  came  up  from  the  city,  where  he 
had  made  a  good  sale,  and  brought  home  to  his 
bit  of  a  shanty  quite  a  number  of  luxuries;  and, 
what  pleased  him  still  better,  a  recently  published 
work  on  geolog}'  and  a  new  microscope  to  take 
the  place  of  his  old  one. 

He  was  a  singular  man,  this  Clipper,  and  gen- 
erally considered  among  his  neighbors  as  a  shift- 
less sort  of  creature,  with  no  evil  worth  speaking 
about  in  his  make  up,  but  with  a  store  of  philo- 
sophical learning  which  might,  if  possessed  by  a 


7//;.YA'7/-;7T.  1.  21 

man  of  more  rii<Ti_L"y  of  character,  have  made  him 
a  factor  of  no  weak  power  among  them. 

He  was  a  bachelor  of  perhaps  thirty-eight,  liv- 
ing alone  and  doing  his  work  generally  himself, 
unless  it  might  be  an  occasional  overhauling  of 
his  small  amount  of  household  goods  given  by 
Mrs.  Jaax,  arid  for  which  he  paid  her  either  in 
fish  or  game,  these  two  being  his  prinpcial 
means  of  support,  eked  out  by  a  batch  of  musk- 
rat  hides  to  sell  to  the  furrier. 

He  was  always  botanizing  around  during  his 
very  many  spare  hours,  or  picking  up  bits  of 
shells  and  geological  specimens  for  analyzatioii, 
always  watching  the  habits  of  birds  and  insects, 
and  his  cabin  of  two  rooms  was  a  veritable 
museum  of  curosities;  a  place  \vhere  the  student 
of  natural  history  might  have  well  devoted  much 
time  in  his  favorite  pursuit. 

He  was  decided  only  on  one  point,  and  that 
was  his  aversion  toward  the  general  ambition 
of  mankind  to  become  rich;  and  on  this  account 
he  was  always  at  cross-cuts  with  his  neigh- 
bor, Jaax,  who  held  opposition  views  full}'  as 
strong. 

Jaax  had  come  from  "  faderlaiid,"  as  his  wife 
affectionately  called  their  old  home,  Germany,  a 
number  of  years  back,  and  by  dint  of  hard  work 
011  the  part  of  the  whole  famil}",  accompanied  by 
the  most  strenuous  economy,  he  had  managed  in 
the  time  to  bu\T  a  few  acres  of  miserable  sandy 
land  running  up  above  the  head  of  the  lake.  Here 
he  had  lived  for  twelve  vears  or  more,  and  was 


22  HENRIETTA. 

now  considered  to  be  a  man  of  means,  \vith  quite 
a  bank  deposit. 

His  surroundings,  however,  were  just  the  same 
as  when  he  first  commenced  farming,  as  he  always 
styled  his  business,  with  the  row  of  cattle  pens 
and  horse  stables  still  running  the  length  and 
around  the  ends  of  his  long,  one-story  building. 

"They  keeps  him  warm,"  he  used  to  say,  -when 
speaking  of  his  place,  giving  a  sly  chuckle  at  the 
time,  as  if  he  considered  the  plan  of  infinite 
more  \visdom  than  that  of  his  neighbors,  who 
were  willing  to  sacrifice  this  good  for  the  sake  of 
health  and  cleanliness. 

Jaax's  wife  and  children  pined  and  dwindled 
into  the  most  beggared  and  distressed  specimens 
of  humanity  imaginable,  for  want  of  pure  air  ;  but 
Jaax  himself  was  robust  to  an  unusual  degree, 
because  he  spent  but  little  time  in-doors,  his  hours 
being  mostly  occupied  either  in  attending  to  his 
cattle  or  in  tilling  his  poor  soil,  upon  which,  he 
declared,  he  had  put  enough  of  fertilizing  matter 
to  make  it  productive  clear  through  to  China,  and 
China  must  have  got  the  benefit,  for  his  crops 
\vere  always  thin  and  poor,  no  matter  how  much 
attention  he  gave  them.  The  fall  drought  invari- 
ably scorched  it  all,  but  yet,  despite  this  draw- 
back, the  old  German  had  waxed  well-to-do,  and 
so  was  happy. 

Clipper  disliked  him  exceeding!}'.  He  could 
not  well  help  it,  as  the  difference  was  as  great 
between  them  as  the  proverbial  one  between  \vater 
and  oil,  with  a  corresponding  natural  antipathy. 


HENRIETT.  1 .  23 

Jaax  was  always  twitting  him  of  his  poverty 
whenever  they  met,  or  asking  him  why  he  didn't 
try  to  find  some  regular  employment  and  take  a 
wife.  Then  Clipper  would  answer  in  his  quiet, 
unruffled  way,  that  he  knew  of  some  who  had  bet- 
ter riot  have  wives,  by  the  way  they  treated  them. 

It  was  the  most  sarcastic  thing  he  ever  did  say, 
though,  for  he  was  a  mild-tempered  man  and 
could  scarcely  be  induced  by  any  provocation  to  say 
so  much  to  any  one  else  beside  this  old  man,  upon 
whom  he  looked  \vith  almost  as  much  contempt 
as  he  would  a  pig  which  had  managed  by 
greedy  scrambles  among  its  kind  to  accumulate  a 
larger  amount  of  food  for  his  own  use  than  his 
fellows  were  possessed  of.  In  the  contest  after 
\vealth  he  recognized  no  animus  whatever.  Noth- 
ing but  the  dull  plodding  and  wretched  unrest  of 
inferior  minds,  and  both  in  theory  and  practice 
he  relied  literally  on  the  doctrine  of  Christ  upon 
the  subject. 

He  believed  in  it  because  it  was  the  teaching  of 
Christ. 

Either,  he  mused,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  son 
of  God,  and  as  such  to  be  followed  by  those  profes- 
sing his  name  in  the  spirit  of  truth,  or  else  he 
was  not  the  son  of  God,  but  a  deception  and  alto- 
gether different  from  what  he  thought  of  himself. 

He  hated  the  hypocrisy  of  the  nominal  Chris- 
tian in  professing  to  believe  in  the  Messiah,  and 
yet  in  their  daily  life  going  diametrically  opposite 
to  his  creed,  under  the  specious  names  of  individ- 
ualism, progress,  enterprise  and  the  like,  all  of 


24  JfKXRIETTA. 

them  but  that  spirit  of  mamoii  worship,  as  he 
considered,  so  deprecated  throughout  the  pages  of 
the  New  Testament. 

His  neighbors,  that  is,  the  greater  number, 
looked  upon  him  as  being  eccentric,  and  his 
freely  spoken  belief  but  the  offspring  of  his  irreg- 
ular thought.  Xo  one  could  convince  them  that 
material  riches  \vere  not  a  very  good  thing,  indeed, 
a  little  more  to  be  sought  after  than  either  spirit- 
ual or  intellectual  wealth,  or  at  least  to  be  looked 
after  first  as  a  foundation,  as  it  were,  upon  which 
to  unite  the  two  last. 

But  William  Clipper  was  not  so  eccentric  as 
supposed,  not  essentially  and  by  nature  so,  but 
the  physical  and  mental  force  called  forth  by 
other  men  who  had  entered  the  matrimonial  lists 
early  in  life,  and  as  a  natural  accompaniment,  had 
brought  a  train  of  children  into  the  world,  had 
lain  dormant  with  him. 

He  had  been  late  in  life  to  find  the  woman,  of 
his  choice,  and  in  this  choice  an  oddity  of  charac- 
ter certainly  appeared. 

It  was  for  this  woman  that  he  was  fixing  up  a 
string  of  his  finest  fish,  reserved  from  those  lie 
had  taken  to  the  market  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
day,  and  he  had  also  indulged  in  the  outlay  of  a 
sum  of  money  sufficient  to  pay  for  a  clear-voiced 
canary  in  a  neat  cage,  to  carry  along  with  them. 

Arrayed  in  his  best  suit,  drab  in  color  and  the 
least  bit  old  fashioned  in  make,  he  was  about  to 
start  out,  when  he  was  arrested  in  his  design  by 
the  entrance  of  a  handsome,  well-grown  bo3r  of 


HENRIETTA.  25 

eighteen  or  more,  his  friend  and  frequent  com- 
panion, Robert  Orme,  a  being  quite  as  much  a 
peculiarity  as  himself  in  his  own  different  way, 
being  something  of  a  naturalist,  but  a  good  deal 
more  of  a  lover  of  astronomy  and  poetry. 

He  delighted  in  giving  new  and  dignified  names 
to  things  in  nature. 

The  bits  of  emerald  pebbles  along  the  lake  he 
called  jasper;  carnelian,  chelcedony;  the  whitish 
flower  found  on  the  hardy  patches  of  the  hoary 
leaved  everlasting  he  called  an  edelweise;  the 
common  meadow  lily  was  the  lily  of  the  field,  of 
scripture,  he  was  sure. 

In  addition  to  this  poetic  instinct,  he  knew  as 
much  of  sidereal  and  planetary  movements  as 
some  professors  of  astronomy,  figuratively  carry- 
ing his  head  in  the  sky,  and  if  his  feet  touched 
the  earth  it  was  not  with  the  tread  of  ordinary 
mortals. 

It  was  vacation  month  with  him,  and  he  was 
spending  it  mostly  in  rambling  about  with  his  rod 
or  gun,  or  else  getting  specimens  for  Clipper's 
cabinet. 

But  he  had  come  on  an  errand  this  evening. 

It  was  to  see  whether  his  friend  would  go  over 
to  Mrs.  Desmond's  and  drive  the  carriage  to  the 
city  depot  after  her  niece,  who  was  to  arrive  by 
the  noon  train. 

The  answer  was  affirmative,  and  young 
Orme,  seeing  that  his  friend  was  about  to  go  out, 
withdrew  at  an  early  opportunity  and  returned  to 
the  Desmonds,  where  he  found  an  attraction  in 


26  HENRIETTA. 

the  form  of  one  of  the  twins,  a  school-boy  passion, 
but  none  the  less  entrancing. 

He  divined  where  his  friend  was  going,  as  he 
knew,  along  with  all  the  people  about,  of  Clipper's 
rather  one-sided  courtship  with  Hannah  Shaw, 
spinster,  of  an  age  equalling  his  own  within  a  few- 
weeks,  a  temperament  so  different  from  his  that 
people  wondered  at  his  persevering  efforts  for  the 
last  two  years  to  win  her  grace. 

He  had  never  really  asked  Hannah  to  marry  him. 
although  he  had  often  thrown  out  broad  hints  to 
that  end,  but  only  to  be  met  with  the  forceful 
rebuff,  which  mostly  nips  an  unwelcome  advance 
in  the  bud,  but  not  in  Clipper's  case,  at  least,  leav- 
ing it  without  power  to,  in  time,  renew  its  decol- 
lated parts. 

Hannah  was  a  wonder  in.  some  respects. 

She  was  the  best  housekeeper,  undisputably,  in 
the  community.  No  one  ever  thought  of  rivalling 
her  in  that  way,  \vell  knowing  that  their  linen  of 
the  household  could  never  be  kept  in  the  same 
immaculate  whiteness,  that  their  cooking  and 
baking  could  never  attain  to  the  same  excellence, 
nor  their  art  of  cleanliness  reach  to  the  same 
height;  and  then  her  garden  had  in  it  the 
best  vegetables  to  be  found,  while  the  two 
narrow  beds  on  either  side  of  the  long  path 
leading  up  through  her  front  yard,  were  filled 
with  the  finest  of  flowers,  both  old  and  new  in 
variety. 

She  dearly  loved  flowers,  and  in  this  was  the 
only  point  that  she  and  her  lover  agreed  upon,  the 


HENRIETTA.  27 

only  chord  of  real  sympathy  upon  which  their 
opposite  natures  seemed  to  harmonize. 

Hannah  was  out  weeding  her  flowers  \vhen 
Clipper  came  along. 

"Good  evening,  Hannah,"  he  said,  as  he  entered 
the  gate,  with  his  fish  and  his  canary. 

She  arose  from  her  stooping  posture  and  looked 
at  him  straight,  her  small  and  slender  form  im- 
movable as  a  statue,  her  irregular  features  and 
sharp  brown  e}'es  expressingconsiderable  \vonder, 
not  unmingled  with  scorn,  as  they  rested  upon  the 
burden  which  he  bore. 

She  was  not  a  handsome  \voman,  or  had  she 
ever  been,  and  to  an  ordinary  person  the  look  she 
now  wore  would  have  rendered  her  almost  repul- 
sive. But  Clipper  was  in  love — the  love  which 
conies  to  middle  life,  and  \vhich  some  contend  is 
stronger  than  that  of  early  manhood,  and  so  he 
saw  nothing  but  what  was  fair  in  Hannah. 

"What  on  earth  are  you  bringing  there,  William 
Clipper?  I  hope  it's  nothing  for  me,"  was  her 
first  greeting,  as  she  cast  a  scornful  look  at  the 
innocent  fish  hanging  by  tyis  side  and  the  yellow 
bird  sitting  upon  its  perch. 

"Yes,  that  is  just  what  I  have  got,  something 
for  you,  and  I  hope  you  will  have  the  goodness 
to  accept  them,  too.  I've  had  an  unusual  streak 
of  luck  to-day;  in  fact,  all  week,  for  that  matter, 
my  business  has  been  unusually  good,  so  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  bring  you  this  canary  from  the  city. 
He's  a  splendid  singer,  the  seller  said,  and  will 
add  a  great  deal,  I  think,  to  the  comfort  of  your 


28  HENRIETTA. 

home,  or  pleasure,  rather,  and  I  hope  you  will 
think  so,  too." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  what  to  say.  Of  course  I 
can't  find  it  in  my  heart  to  hate  a  little  bird  like 
that,  but  I  never  told  you  that  I  wanted  one,  nor 
even  hinted  it,  and  I  will  tell  you  in  plain  words 
that  I  think  you  had  better  have  laid  out  your  bit 
of  money  in  something  more  useful,  for  yourself  I 
mean,  and  not  to  have  thought  of  me  or  my 
home." 

"Well,  I  do  think  a  great  deal  about  3rou,  Han- 
nah, and  of  your  house,  too,  but  only  as  the  place 
is  made  fair  and  dear  by  your  presence,  and  if  you 
refuse  to  accept  the  bird,  why,  of  course,  I  shall 
have  to  take  it  back  and  try  to  get  my  money,  as  I 
have  not  got  the  time  now,  in  the  busy  season, 
to  care  for  it.  My  business  is  too  pressing  for 
that." 

"I  don't  \vish  to  hear  any  nonsense  this  eve- 
ning," said  Hannah.  "You've  been  hinting  at  your 
love  for  me,  and  coming  up  here  so  much  with 
your  presents  of  berries  and  fish  until  all  the 
country  is  talking  of  it.  The}'  just  have  the  im- 
pudence to  say,  that  I,  Hannah  Shaw,  who  has 
conducted  herself  straightly  for  near  011  to  forty 
years  is  about  to  marry  you,  a  man  who  calls  fish- 
ing a  business;  and,  like  all  of  your  class,  as  poor 
as  a  church-mouse;  yet  still  goes  about  prating 
of  the  sinfulness  of  accumulations  in  the  way  of 
money  and  propert}r,  \vhen  the  truth  of  it  is  you 
are  too  shiftless  and  too  deficient  in  the  necessary 
energy  to  gather  up  anything  for  3Tourself." 


HENRIETTA-^  29 

Hannah  was  cross  at  some  gossip  which  she 
had  heard  the  day  before,  and  when  women  of  her 
description  are  cross  they  can,  and  mostly  do,  say 
a  great  deal. 

Her  sudden  tirade  somewhat  astonished  her 
lover,  but  he  stood  his  ground  well,  determined 
not  to  be  beaten  out  of  the  plan  he  had  formed  of 
putting  the  question  of  their  union  direct  at  this 
time. 

He  sat  down  the  cage  in  the  heart  of  a  blue- 
flowered  bush. 

"There!"  said  Hannah,  taking  it  off  with  a  con- 
temptous  jerk,  "you've  about  ruined  my  Jacob's 
ladder." 

"Polmoiiiums,  my  dear,  they're  polmoniums; 
Jacob's  ladder  is  a  very  common  and  old-fashioned 
name,  and  not  at  all  botanical." 

"Well,  Jacob's  ladder  suits  me,  I'm  not  so  learn- 
ed, thank  goodness  for  it  too,  if  learning  makes 
them  all  as  shiftless  as  you  are." 

She  started  to  straighten  up  the  prostrate  plant, 
and  Clipper  likewise  stooped  to  assist  her,  for  he 
was  sorry  at  his  carelessness  as  much  as  she. 

Their  hands  came  in  contact. 

It  was  the  first  time  in  all  of  his  long  and  sing- 
ular courtship  that  he  had  ever  been  so  close  to 
Hannah,  and  his  frame  felt  a  magnetic  thrill. 

"  Hannah ! " 

"What  is  it,  Mr.  Awkward?  Don't  you  see  you 
have  broken  a  limb  there?" 

"I  never  yet  have  asked  you  to  marry  me." 

"No,  nor  you  better  not." 


30  HENRIETTA. 

"That's  just  what  I  came  up  for  to-night." 

"It's  my  house  and  bit  of  income,  I  guess,  that 
you  are  after." 

"No,  it's  yourself,  Hannah,  your  own  dear  self. 
I  don't  care  a  fig  for  your  money,  much  or  little 
be  it,  and  indeed  I  should  be  glad  to  see  it  swept 
away  from  you  by  some  accident,  so  that  I  might 
take  you  to  my  place  and  show  3^0  u  how  I  could 
and  would  work  for  you." 

"  Shiftless  views  again  ;  I  wonder  how  I  could 
live  in  your  miserable  lodgings.  I  guess  we 
would  both  be  in  a  state  of  destitution  soon 
enough." 

Clipper  looked  annoyed,  and  he  felt  all  that  his 
looks  implied,  at  the  thought  of  being  defeated  on 
a  point  \vhich  he  had  intended  to  be  most  affect- 
ing." 

"Oh,  no!"  he  said  ;  "I  didn't  really  wish  to  bring 
you  to  poverty.  I  only  mentioned  it  by  way  of 
illustration,  to  prove  my  devotion  to  you." 

"There,  now!"  retorted  the  spinster,  "at  last  you 
have  as  good  as  acknowledged  that  3^0  u  would  not 
care  for  me  without  my  little  bit  of  worldly  goods. 
I  always  have  thought  that  you  had  more  of  an 
eye  to  that  than  to  me,  in  spite  of  your  constant 
talk  about  riches." 

"Why,  Hannah,  how  can  3rou  so  blame  a  man 
for  what  he  is  as  guiltless  of  as  hoiie3T  is  of  vine- 
gar?" 

She  smiled  at  his  odd  comparison  in  spite  of 
herself,  and  asked  him  if  he  considered  himself 
anything  like  honey. 


HENRIETTA.  31 

"No,"  he  said;  "but  I  certainly  consider  you 
quite  like  a  honey  bee,  with  its  sting  always  pre- 
pared for  war." 

"Well,  then,  keep  away  from  me,  and  you  won't 
feel  its  point,  is  all  I  have  to  say." 

"Yes,  but  I  won't  keep  away,  until  you  have 
fairl}7  and  squarely  answered  my  question." 

"What  question,  Mr.  Clipper?" 

He  looked  at  her  in  a  puzzled  sort  of  way.  He 
forgot  that  he  had  not  as  yet  asked  her  to  marry 
him,  but  only  suggested  it. 

"I  guess  we  could  get  along,"  he  said,  not  know- 
ing what  else  to  say  to  make  things  still  more 
plain  to  her. 

"  I  know  I  can  get  along,"  answered  his  tor- 
mentor, "  up  to  my  house,  but  if  a  man  of  your 
queer  way  expects  to  get  along,  whjr,  he  had  better 
not  wait  till  the  woods  grow  too  dark.  Something 
might  scare  you  out  of  your  wits;  so  good  night, 
Mr.  Clipper."  With  a  sort  of  mock  bow  she  left 
him  standing  near  the  gate  as  she  tripped  off  to 
her  house  with  the  canary,  but  not  deigning  to 
notice  the  string  of  pickerel  lying  stark  in  the 
evening  dew. 

He  w^nt  down  the  bluff  to  his  lonely  shanty, 
where  he  sat  for  a  long  time  before  retiring,  think- 
ing of  the  reception  his  hard-hearted  love  had 
given  him;  of  her  unyielding  obstiiiancy  toward 
him,  her  cruel  suspicions  in  regard  to  a  covert 
wish  of  bettering  his  condition  financially  by  an 
alliance  with  her;  and,  worse  than  all,  her  coii- 
temptous  insinuations  as  to  his  being  a  coward. 


32  HENRIETTA. 

She  had  treated  both  him  and  his  proposal  with 
down-light  meanness,  that  was  certain,  and  he 
about  half  made  up  his  mind  that  night  to  forget 
all  about  her,  even  if  he  had  to  leave  the  place  to 
do  it. 

Hannah  went  back  and  got  the  fish  after  her 
much  misused  lover  had  disappeared  in  the 
gloaming.  She  did  it  for  two  reasons,  one  was 
that  she  was  fond  of  them,  and  the  other  that  a 
part  of  her  domestic  education  had  been  to  never 
allow  anything  to  go  to  waste.  So,  after  she 
had  cleaned  and  salted  them  she  put  them 
away  for  her  breakfast  the  next  morning,  after 
which  she  went  into  her  little  front  parlor  and 
sat  down  on  her  cretonne-covered  rocker  with  her 
knitting  in  her  hand. 

She  rocked,  and  knit,  and  thought. 

Somehow  she  had  an  unusually  dissatisfied 
feeling  whenever  her  mind  reverted  toward  the 
scene  in  the  flower- garden,  and  she  could  not 
remember  a  time  when  mature  reflection  had 
showed  her  conduct  up  in  so  bad  a  manner.  She 
was  about  half  way  remorseful  for  her  treatment 
of  William,  for  whom  she  really  had  some  liking- 
more  than  she  had  for  any  one  since  she  lost  her 
fair  young  lover  away  back  in  the  war  days  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg. 

That  event  had  gone  a  long  way  toward  making 
Hannah  the  odd  creature  she  was,  as  she  never 
quite  got  over  the  sorrowful  heart-break  which 
came  to  her  then;  and  instead  of  making  her  more 
sweet-tempered  by  the  patience  wrought  of  sorrow, 


HENRIETTA.  33 

as  some  \vouhl  have  been,  it  had  the  reverse 
effect  of  making  her  rather  cross  and  cynical  in 
her  disposition. 

The  more  her  eyes  wandered  toward  the  sleep- 
ing bird  in  its  cage,  which  she  had  hung  far  up  on 
a  nail  by  the  window  from  the  reach  of  the  cat, 
the  more  she  thought  of  his  affectionate  kindness 
in  bu}'ing  it  for  her;  and,  then,  she  remembered 
his  imperturbable  demeanor  under  the  shower  of 
her  insults  and  sneers,  and  wondered  whether  in 
all  the  world  there  existed  another  so  forbearing 
a  man.  In  her  own.  mind  she  was  convinced 
that  he  did  care  for  her  and  not  for  her  small 
property  as  she  had  told  him,  and  she  almost 
pursuaded  herself  that  if  he  were  not  quite 
so  shiftless  and  would  give  up  his  vagabondish 
ways  for  something  more  respectable,  she  might 
be  induced  to  think  seriously  of  his  offer. 

Her  premises  were  running  down  for  want  of 
some  one  to  '.eep  them  in  order,  some  one  pos- 
sessed of  more  strength  than  she  had  in  her  arms; 
and  the  milking  of  her  cow  for  year  iti  and  year 
out  was  becoming  burdensome  to  her,  and,  what 
was  still  worse — for  her  lonely  situation — tramps 
were  getting  quite  numerous  around,  so  that  she 
might  be  murdered  any  night  and  her  nearest 
neighbor  not  be  able  to  hear  from  her  or  give 
her  aid,  being  a  good  stone's  throw  away. 

There  was  no  need,  however,  of  her  being  alone, 
as  many  had  been  the  orphan  or  deserted  waif 
commended  to  her  by  well-meaning  people,  as  an 
object  upon  which  to  bestow  her  care,  but  she 


34  HENRIETTA. 

considered  herself  as  being  too  wise  a  woman  to 
listen  to  any  of  their  plans. 

She  had  known  enough  of  such  cases,  she  said, 
to  be  fully  satisfied  that  the  person  who  took  a 
child  of  that  sort,  was,  but  in  extremely  rare 
instances,  never  thanked  for  their  pains.  There 
•were  always  mischievous  people  to  be  found, 
ready  and  willing  to  put  a  variance  between  the 
benefited  and  the  benefactor;  mostly  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  latter,  so  she  did  not  care  to  run 
the  risk  of  getting  herself  into  trouble  of  that 
kind. 

Thus  on  account  of  a  class  to  be  found  the  world 
over,  a  class  who  are  perhaps  more  thoughtless 
or  incapable  of  seeing  things  in  proper  light  than 
\vicked,  some  poor  child  was  prevented  from  a 
comfortable  home. 

The  spinster  had  never  before  so  felt  the  loneli- 
ness of  her  single  life  like  she  did  this  night,  as 
she  heard  the  low  tick  of  the  clock  and  listened  to 
the  gentle  sweep  of  the  wind  across  the  windows. 

George  Washington,  011  the  wall  opposite, 
seemed  to  have  a  sterner  look  than  usual  about 
his  always  firm  mouth,  and  the  face  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  looking  down  at  her  from  above,  appeared 
to  wear  a  sadder  look  than  she  had  noticed  before. 

Even  the  bit  of  fine  landscape  painting,  with  its 
rising  sun  and  soft  tints,  for  which  she  had  paid 
quite  a  bit  of  money  to  Eldie — -her  neighbor  artist 
— had  lost  its  brightness,  arid  the  room  with  all  its 
adornments  had  a  sort  of  undefined  failure  about 
it  to  make  her  as  fully  satisfied  with  herself  and 


HENRIETTA.  35 

her  home  as  previously,  arid  before  she  retired  for 
the  night  she  almost  persuaded  herself  that  if  her 
lover  came  again  to  offer  her  his  hand  hi  mnrriauv 
she  should  accept  it  at  once. 


36  HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  next  morning  Clipper,  arrayed  in  his  best 
called  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Desmond  to  get  the 
carriage  and  directions  to  go  after  Miss  Dudley. 

She  came  in  full  glory. 

She  almost  took  the  breath  away  from  her 
escort  as  he  handed  her  into  the  seat  behind  him, 
for  he,  poor  man,  in  his  humble  life,  did  not  very 
often  come  in  contact  with  fine  ladies,  and  here 
was  one,  indeed. 

From  furtive  glances  cast  backward,  Clipper 
caught  a  flash  of  shimmering  lace  and  bright 
ribbons,  a 'glitter  of  bijou  ornamentation  and  the 
scintillation  of  diamonds,  with  a  coquettish  face, 
flower-like  in  its  delicate  coloring,  as  seen  through 
the  fine  mist  of  a  dark  veil. 

"Rouge  and  pearl  powder,"  thought  the  driver 
in  a  ruminating  sort  of  way,  as  a  sweet  violet 
scent  assailed  his  senses,  from  the  seat  behind 
him;  "they  all  use  it,  these  fashionable  belles," 
and  then  his  mental  vision  involuntarity  went  out 
toward  cruel,  heartless  Hannah,  who  was  too 
good  a  woman  to  make  use  of  any  such  deceptive 
means;  and  if  her  face  was  not  the  most  alluring 
in  the  world,  it  was  a  real  and  a  sincere  one. 

But  110  more  of  that.  His  heart  was  yet  sorely 
suffering  from  her  rude  words,  and  he  took  then 


HENRIETTA.  37 

and  there  a  firm  resolve  to  take  no  more  retrospec- 
tive views,  so  commenced  to  study  the  blocks  of 
Kasota  and  sandstone  in  the  facades  as  he  passed 
along,  and  to  consider  how  graciously  nature  had 
arrayed  all  her  works  for  the  benefit  of  mankind 
in  both  a  useful  and  ornamental  way. 

"You  have  a  beautiful  city,"  said  the  lady,  bend- 
ing slight!)"  forward  to  make  her  remark  the  more 
easily  understood,  and  then  drawing  herself  sud- 
denly back  as  if  half  ashamed  at  her  boldness  in 
thus  venturing  upon  a  first  remark  to  her  biz- 
arre companion. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  with  a  slight  bow  of  his  head, 
as  he  touched  his  hat  \vith  old-fashioned  courtesy. 
"It  is  thought  by  some  to  be  as  handsome  as  any 
place  in  the  country.  But,  as  the  saying  goes, 
handsome  is  that  handsome  does,  arid  I  can  say 
that  she  can  fill  that  axiom,  too,  for  she  is  just  as 
flourishing  as  she  is  fine  appearing,"  and  Clipper 
\vent  off  into  the  pardonable  and  usual  extrava- 
gances pertaining  to  citizens  of  all  places  whose 
growth  has  been  unusually  rapid  and  prosperous. 

Hetty  was  surprised  at  the  elegance  of  his  lan- 
guage, so  inconsistent  \vith  his  superficial  appear- 
ance, and  really  it  was  better  than  that  of  most  of 
the  fine  men  of  wealth  and  position  that  she  had 
met  in  her  social  intercourse  \vith  the  world. 

Why  should  it  be  otherwise? 

Clipper  had  spent  his  time  in  the  pursuit  of  such 
reading  and  studies  which  cannot  do  otherwise 
than  leave  their  elevating  mark  upon  mind  and 
speech,  and  while  other  men  had  given  their 


38  HENRIETTA. 

attention  toward  business  and  the  most  approved 
business  methods,  to  the  end  that  they  might  get 
riches  and  worldly  honor,  he  had  been  content 
to  know  no  more  in  that  way  than  would  suffice 
his  daily  \vants,  while  his  exceptionally  deep  love 
of  nature  and  her  \vorks  had  kept  his  mind  as 
pure  as  that  of  a  woman. 

He  was  Nature's  gentleman,  without  alloy. 

The  fine  points  of  the  city  described,  its  mani- 
fold praises  exhausted,  the  two  occupants  of  the 
carriage  again  fell  into  silence  ;  but  all  the  while 
Hetty,  from  behind,  was  watching  the  queer  cut 
and  style  of  Clipper's  coat,  and  wondering  what 
sort  of  a  man  he  must  be,  that  could  talk  so  well, 
and  yet  dress  so  shabbily.  He  was  thinking  that 
she  was  a  charming  woman  to  converse  with,  and 
apparently  not  at  all  proud  and  snobbish,  as  he  at 
first  thought  she  must  be. 

Of  a  sudden  the  vehicle  stopped. 

Clipper  got  out  amidst  a  pile  of  broken  imported 
rock,  \vhich  some  "workmen  were  busy  in  assort- 
ing, and,  picking  a  piece  from  the  debris,  returned 
to  the  carriage  with  it  in  his  palm. 

The  bit  of  stone  was  ordinary  enough,  to  a  com- 
mon observer,  and  only  a  virtuosa,  bent  on  look- 
ing always  for  something  to  gratify  his  passion, 
would  have  detected  anything  in  it,  among  the 
rest  of  its  kind. 

But  to  him  it  was  a  most  rare  treasure,  being  of 
dendritic  formation,  and  containing  in  its  trans- 
parent depth,  as  if  reflected  in  a  mirror,  a  well  de- 
fined landscape  view  of  a  small  lake  or  pond,  sur- 


HENRIETTA.  39 

rounded  by  rushes  and  sedge  grass,  with  a  back- 
ground of  willows  and  other  trees. 

Dioptrics  had  caught  the  shadow,  and  finding  a 
proper  mineral  and  chemical  condition,  had  pre- 
pared, according  to  Nature's  mystery,  upon  the 
face  of  the  rock,  an  indelible  picture,  long  before 
Dagnerre  found  out  the  science  of  actinism. 

He  turned  about  and  handed  it  to  his  compan- 
ion, explaining  to  her  his  idea  of  the  cause  of  the 
strange  picture. 

But  Hetty  took  but  little  interest  in  it. 

She  was  not  of  the  sort  who  could  rank  among 
the  number  of  those  who,  according  to  the  poet, 
"  read  sermons  in  stones." 

A  piece  of  music,  upon  which  \vere  recorded 
the  notes  for  a  new  galop  or  quadrille,  \vould 
have  been  far  more  to  her  fancy,  for,  if  not  a  vir- 
tuosa,  like  Clipper,  she  was  certainly  one  of 
another  kind,  at  least  to  a  limited  extent,  as,  for 
instance,  a  love  of  the  pursuit  of  Orpheus, 
when  it  contributed  toward  the  glories  of  the 
ball-room,  and  a  love  of  color,  when  found  among 
velvet  and  other  goods  used  for  fashionable 
adornment. 

To  please  the  queer  man,  however,  she  affected 
an  admiration  for  his  curiosity,  and,  as  she  was  an 
adept  in  the  art  of  dissimulation,  she  quite  unde- 
ceived him  as  to  her  true  apathy  in  the  matter; 
and  he  received  it  from  her  with  the  assurance 
that  she  quite  sympathized  \vith  him  in  his  phil- 
osophical fancies,  a  thing  he  was  sure  Hannah  — . 
There  he  checked  his  thoughts 'as  completely  as 


40  HENRIETTA. 

if  they  had  been  as  well  under  control  as  the 
sleek  pair  of  chestnuts  in  front  of  him  were  to  bit 
and  bridle.  It  was  hard,  though,  to  keep  Hannah 
altogether  out  of  his  mind. 

The  purlieu  of  the  city  gained,  they  were  not 
long  in  running  over  the  gravelly  road  of  the  lake 
shore,  and  up  the  bit  of  elevation  leading  to  the 
Desmond  cottage. 

There  they  were  met  by  its  mistress  and  her 
two  daughters,  who  were  on  the  look-out  for  their 
coming. 

That  lady  was  slightly  surprised,  in  a  most 
agreeable  manner,  however,  at  finding  her  niece 
even  more  handsome  and  distinguished  looking 
than  she  had  viewed  her  mentally. 

It  was  quite  a  number  of  years  since  she  had 
parted  from  her  in  the  East,  in  a  manufacturing 
town  in  Pennsylvania,  at  a  time  when  the  girl — 
now  a  woman  of  twenty-five  —  was  but  fifteen 
years  old.  An  uninterrupted  correspondence  dur- 
ing the  interval  had  kept  her  well  informed  as  to 
all  affairs  connected  with  her  brother's  family, 
and,  of  course,  Hetty's  social  triumphs  as  a  belle, 
along  \vith  the  rest. 

She  was  certainty  most  royally  beautiful,  she 
thought,  as  she  eyed  her  gracefully  rounded  form; 
and  proud  poise  of  shoulders,  neck  and  head. 
L/angtry,  whom  she  had  once  seen,  could  not  be  a 
peer  with  her,  she  was  sure  ;  and  she  doubted 
whether  in  all  the  adjacent  city  and  country, 
filled,  c\s  it  was,  with  fair  \vomen,  her  equal  in 
appearance  could  be  found. 


HENRIETTA.  41 

She  was  flattered  by  the  thought  of  being  aunt 
to  so  fair  a  creature,  and  cared  not  a  whit  that  her 
own  twins  were  quite  thrown  into  the  shade  by  a 
star  so  magnificent,  partly  because  petty  jealousy 
was  not  among  the  list  of  her  weaknesses,  and 
partly  because  she,  as  yet,  looked  upon  them  as 
little  more  than  children. 

And  Charles  Lennox?  How  must  he  be  affected 
by  her  beauty,  when  once  he  should  meet  her  ? 
She  wondered  about  it,  and  thought  that  his  sur- 
prise must  be  as  great  as  her  own,  when  he 
should  see  how  much  superior  to  her  picture  she 
really  was.  Then  a  cloud  came  over  her  musings, 
as  the  suggestion  intruded  itself  that  the  likeli- 
hood was  that  more  than  surprise  would  take  pos- 
session of  him;  and  thus  Eldie  would  be  left  free 
for  John's  wooing. 

Upon  the  third  evening  after  the  coming  of 
her  niece,  she  gave  a  small  neighborhood  enter- 
tainment for  the  unmarried  folks,  as  a  means 
of  an  introduction  of  the  new-comer  among 
them. 

She  could  not  well  slight  Kldie  Janneaux,  so  she 
sent  to  her  a  note  of  invitation;  but  the  young 
artist  plead  another  engagement,  and  so  excused 
her  presence  upon  the  occasion. 

Charles  Lennox  was  there,  to  be  sure,  along  with 
a  score  or  more  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  among 
them  William  Clipper  and  Major  Stewart,  also  a 
bachelor. 

Between  the  first  of  these  two  and  his  hostess 
there  was  no  rythm. 


42  HENRIETTA. 

Their  ideas  could  never  harmonize,  being  as 
widely  diversant  as  the  poles  of  the  earth. 

To  her  his  unconventional  mode  of  life  was  dis- 
gusting in  the  extreme;  his  religious  and  polit- 
ical creeds,  outre  and  isolated;  while  to  him  she 
was  a  most  lively  representative  of  what  is  said 
to  be  the  worst  of  all  fools,  an  old  fool,  with  her 
narrow-  views,  limited  on  all  sides  by  weakness 
and  selfishness,  and  her  futile  grasping  after  the 
unattainable  in  wealth  and  social  position. 

She  invited  him,  however,  to  Her  small  party, 
out  of  compliment  for  his  kindnes  in  bringing 
Hetty  from  the  train,  at  a  time  when  John  was 
suddenly  called  upon  to  attend  a  law  suit  in  re- 
gard to  a  complication  in  which  some  of  his  land 
•was  involved.  Clipper  accepted  the  invitation 
for  the  reason  that  he  was  glad  to  go  to  any  place 
in  which  some  excitement  was  promised,  in  order 
that  by  this  means  he  might  better  be  enabled  to 
drive  the  thoughts  of  Hannah  from  his  mind. 

That  personage  was  not  invited,  because  Mrs. 
Desmond  hardly  thought  that  the  spinster  would 
take  the  kindness  acceptably,  and  indeed  her 
absence  was  quite  more  agreeable  to  the  lady 
than  her  presence  would  be. 

They  were  no  warm  friends,  these  two  women, 
of  whom  it  may  be  said  that  both  \vere  possessed 
of  an  equal  amount  of  pride  and  obstinacy,  but  in 
directions  quite  different. 

Mrs.  Desmond  was  proud,  and  she  considered  it 
her  divine  right  to  be  so,  descended  as  she  was 
from  people  who,  to  use  her  own  expression,  "had 


HENRIETTA.  43 

always  been  able  to  hold  their  heads  up  along 
with  the  best,"  and  who  had  been  of  the  landed 
aristocracy  of  the  Keystone  State,  where  to  own  a 
good  farm  is  considered  of  much  more  importance 
than  in  states  where  land  is  more  readily  obtained. 

Hannah,  too,  was  proud,  but  the  more  aristo- 
cratic women  opposed  it  strenuously.  She 
thought  it  quite  out  of  place  in  her,  as  being  the 
daughter  of  a  day  laborer — Hannah  had  told  her 
so  much  herself — and  considered  her  as  wanting 
in  the  graces  which  a  better  position  might  have 
given  to  her. 

The  spinster  was  full  of  the  sharpness  of  speech 
usual  to  persons  of  her  temperament,  made  forci- 
ble at  times  by  a  vigorous  mode  of  expression, 
and,  what  was  still  more  offensive,  her  reason, 
though  uncultured,  was  yet  sufficiently  clear  to 
censure  the  semi-intriguing  ways  and  follies  of 
her  opponent;  and  her  criticisms  were  not  confined 
to  her  own  bosom,  altogether,  but  with  her  keen 
tongue  she  voiced  them  whenever  she  chose. 

Her  spirit  was  indomitable,  for  Hannah  was  an 
American,  and,  along  \vith  the  most  of  her  people 
she  was  possessed  with  the  feeling  given  to  them 
as  a  legacy  from  that  spirit  which  breathed  into 
the  constitution  with  the  words,  "  all  are  born  free 
and  equal,"  also  the  self-respect  not  to  be  found 
elsewhere  among  the  masses,  the  wonder,  some- 
times the  disgust,  of  foreigners. 

So  Hannah  was  not  among  the  guests  at  the 
lakeside  cottage,  but  those  who  were  there  passed 
a  very  enjoyable  time. 


44  HENRIETTA. 

Henrietta  Dudley,  a  most  magnificent  woman, 
not  only  in  the  eyes  of  her  aunt,  but,  indeed,  in 
the  eyes  of  all  who  beheld  her,  had  carried  off  the 
palm  of  beauty  in  gatherings  the  most  choice  and 
fashionable,  so  was,  to  this  semi-rural  party, 
simply  wonderful  in  the  admiration  that  she 
excited. 

Her  eyes  were  blue,  but  looked  almost  purple 
by  the  effect  produced  by  long,  dark  eye  lashes, 
\vith  an  animated  sparkle  in  their  clear  depths,  as 
if  life  were  to  their  owner  all  free  from  care  or 
grief.  They  shed  a  glorious  light  over  the  shell- 
like  complexion,  upon  which  was  no  token  of  the 
cosmetics  that  Clipper  had  been  so  ready  to  im- 
pute to  it.  Her  features  were  slightly  irregular, 
and  if  her  brow  "was  low  enough  to  escape  any 
great  intellectuality,  yet  it  was  surely  a  most 
smooth  and  fair  one,  surmounted,  as  it  was,  by 
heavy  rolls  of  hair,  of  a  sombre,  bronze-brown  hue. 

In  height  she  "was  somewhat  above  the  me- 
dium size  of  women,  with  a  form  neither  too 
slender  nor  too  full,  and  walking  or  sitting  the 
poise  of  her  neck  and  head  was  both  graceful  and 
majestic. 

She  was  dressed  in  the  most  exquisite  and  fault- 
less taste,  in  a  robe  of  rose-pink  silk,  with  drapings 
of  black  lace,  a  single  diamond  pin  at  her  throat 
and  another  glittering  among  the  meshes  of  her 
hair — nothing  very  grand  or  expensive,  but  well 
suited  to  her  simple  surroundings. 

She  understood  the  art  of  personal  adornment 
to  perfection,  and  was  possessed  of  a  fine  ward- 


HENRIETTA.  45 

robe  with  which  to  display  her  skill,  as  John,  who 
had  brought  it  from  the  depot  the  day  before, 
could  well  testif}^  if  he  \vere  allowed  to  judge 
from  the  quantity  and  weight  of  her  trunks. 

A  party  of  six,  among  them  young  Orme  and 
the  twin  sisters,  \vere  amusing  themselves  with  a 
game  of  dominos,  nothing  that  savored  more  of 
gambling  being  allowed  by  the  pseudo  Christian 
entertainer. 

Kuchre  was  hinted  at,  but  the  daughters  gave 
the  guests  to  know  their  mother's  views,  and  so 
they  said  no  more  011  the  subject. 

John  sat  quiet,  as  usual,  and  rather  moody,  too, 
on  account  of  the  absence  of  Kldie;  while  Lennox 
and  Miss  Dudle3%  by  request,  occupied  the  piano, 
either  alternately  or  together,  the  rest  of  the  young 
people  being  but  indifferent  performers  upon  it. 

Major  Stewart  and  Clipper,  not  caring  for  the 
goddess  calliope,  neither  for  any  of  the  games 
and  tete-a-tetes  of  the  more  youthful  part  of  the 
assembly;  strolled  out  into  a  side  porch,  shaded 
by  vines,  where  they  might  enjoy  the  cool  eve- 
ning breeze,  a  cigar  and  a  quiet  chat  to  themselves. 

Not  that  there  was  any  great  likeness  between 
the  two  men,  unless  it  might  be  a  fellow  feeling, 
engendered  by  their  bachelorhood,  for  in  all  other 
respects,  the}'  \vere  quite  different,  although  both 
were  possessed  of  considerable  intellectual 
acumen,  each  in  his  own  way. 

Their  conversation  soon  drifted  into  an  argu- 
mentative channel,  as  the  major  was  by  nature  a 
controversalist. 


46  HENRIETTA. 

Having  never  made  religion  his  study,  he  was 
out  as  a  polemic  there,  but  give  to  him  politics, 
history,  or  the  bearing  of  society  at  large,  and  few 
could  equal,  none  surpass  him  upon  these  sub- 
jects, while  his  words  flowed  as  readily  as  does 
the  stream  on  its  course. 

He  was  rather  exclusive  in  his  ideas,  and  was 
possessed  of  a  degree  of  hauteur,  which  matched 
not  badly  with  his  fine  pli3Tsique  and  military 
bearing:  nor  yet  with  his  claim  of  royal  blood 
which  had  come  down  to  him  from  the  old  gener- 
ation of  Scottish  kings  whose  name  he  bore. 

"We  are,"  he  said,  after  the  conversation  .had 
been  fairly  opened,  "  passing,  as  a  people,  through 
a  stage  of  transition.  The  time  will  come — in 
truth  it  already  begins  to  cast  fitful  gleams  across 
our  horizon — when  we,  no  longer  a  confused  mass 
of  human  beings,  will  be  as  clearly  and  firmly 
defined,  in  our  several  stations,  as  are  the  classes 
of  the  Old  World." 

"And  would  you,"  asked  Clipper,  "think  a  con- 
dition of  that  sort  an  improvement  upon  our 
present  social  style  ?" 

The  major  reflected  awhile  before  answering 
this  question,  so  openly  and  pointedly  put. 

"Yes,"  he  at  length  said;  "I  cannot  help  but 
consider  a  condition  of  the  kind  mentioned  to  be 
a  better  one  than  is  this  of  the  present;  a  state  of 
unlimited  freedom,  where  every  one,  of  either  sex, 
or  any  station,  is  at  full  liberty  to  enter  the  whirl- 
pool of  ambitious  design.  Existence  is  thus  ren- 
dered one  of  perpetual  strife  and  turmoil,  each 


HENRIETTA.  47 

elbowing  the  other  in  order  to  get  one  step  ahead 
on  the  ladder  of  advancement,  and  this  uncon- 
fined  sway  may  be  set  down  as  the  cause  of  the 
vast  empiricism  to  be  found  among  all  the  arts, 
trades  and  professions  of  the  present  day." 

"In  the  time  of  revolutionary  fame,  when  so 
many  good  and  grand  lives  \vere  lost  for  this  one 
principle  of  individual  liberty,  you  would,  with 
such  sentiments,  have  been  euphoniously  de- 
nounced as  a  royalist,  to  save  you  from  a  name 
more  harsh;  and  I,  at  this  time,  can  look  upon  you 
in  no  other  light  than  that  of  a  monarchist  impa- 
tient for  a  kingly  power  to  be  set  over  us." 

"You  do  not  understand  aright  the  purport  of 
my  words,  nor  the  feeling  which  dictated  them. 
None  \vould  be  more  averse  to  a  crowned  head 
and  a  sceptered  hand  as  a  representation  of  our 
government.  Yet  I  still  maintain  that  liberty  is, 
in  many  respects,  taken  as  a  license  rather,  and 
that  more  of  a  restraint  should  be  exercised  in  our 
social  system,  in  order  to  regulate  matters  for  the 
suppression  of  error." 

"That  idea  is  certainly  well  enough,  but  this 
reform  must  be  accomplished  without  the  form- 
ing of  class  distinctions.  Civil  liberty  is  the  watch- 
word of  republican  principles,  and  not  for  a  select 
set  only,  but  for  the  whole  body  of  the  people; 
and  the  more  the  wealth  of  the  country  changes 
from  a  collective  to  an  inherited  state,  just  in  pro- 
portion must  this  watchword  be  preserved  and 
intensified,  in  order  to  keep  our  s}Tstem  intact  aa 
it  came  from  the  hands  of  its  founders.  Let  us 


48  HENRIETTA. 

allow  the  spirit  of  caste  to  remain  where  it  is,  in 
the  empires  across  the  sea,  until  these  people  be- 
come sufficiently  enlightened  to  cast  off  its  yoke." 

Clipper  had,  during  his  little  speech,  assumed 
an  animation  altogether  at  variance  with  his 
usual  placid  demeanor,  so  that  his  listener  was 
both  amused  and  astonished  at  his  argumenta- 
tive force,  so  unusual  in  one  of  his  manner  of 
life,  but  here  his  interest  ended. 

It  had  power  neither  to  pique  him  to  a  fur- 
ther display  of  his  own  ability  nor  to  convince 
him  of  truth. 

He  looked  upon  the  fisherman  as  one  of  earth's 
unfortunate  ones,  who  would  crave  the  gold  trans- 
forming touch  of  Midas  as  much  as  any,  could  he 
but  have  it;  and  considered  his  contempt  of 
riches  and  of  the  aristocracy  produced  by  it,  as 
but  the  outcome  of  his  weakness  and  inability  to 
obtain  these  things  himself. 

The  evening  was  growing  chilly,  a  damp  mist 
was  arising  from  the  lake,  so  they  left  the  outside 
for  the  warmth  of  the  house. 

In  the  small  parlor  the  young  people  were  still 
over  their  game,  which  had,  however,  been 
changed  from  dominos  to  chess. 

John  had  retired,  as  had  likewise  some  of 
the  guests,  but  Henrietta  and  Charles  still  lin- 
gered at  the  piano  and  music  sheets,  engaged  in 
spirited  argument  over  the  merits  of  the  dif- 
ferent styles  of  composition. 

Henrietta  liked  the  mode  of  the  modern  school, 
but  Charles  had  a  decided  and  well  defined  pre- 


HENRIETTA.  49 

erence  for  that  of  a  decade  or  two  ago,  even  allow- 
ing his  backward  prejudice  to  take  so  free  a 
scope  until  they  came  to  the  impassioned  and 
poetic  themes  of  the  great  Scottish  hard. 

He  was  speaking  now  of  his  songs,  the  particu- 
lar one  being  the  well  worn  one,  "Aftoii  Water," 
and  he  was  loud  in  his  praise  of  the  exquisite 
description  of  nature  and  lofty  sentiments  therein 
embodied. 

"Where,"  he  said,  "among  all  the  sentimental 
and  frivolous  songs  of  our  time,  can  anything  like 
its  equal  be  found? 

"Either  our  song-writers  of  the  present  day 
are  altogether  devoid  of  the  true  instinct  of 
their  art,  or  else  the  public  taste  is  so  vitiated 
and  weakened  by  the  hum-drum,  ultra-practical 
walk  of  modern  life,  that  the}7  can  appreciate 
nothing  better.  There  is,"  he  went  on  to  say, 
"a  great  deal  of  talk  about  the  liberality  of  this 
epoch  toward  people  of  literary  ability,  or  lit- 
erary tendencies,  if  you  will,  but  I  fancy  did  a 
Burns,  a  Goldsmith,  or  any  other  penniless  and 
unprestiged  bard  arise  among  us  his  struggles 
would  be  as  great,  or  even  greater,  than  did  those 
men  of  genius  encounter  during  their  lives. 
Rodomontade  has  more  of  a  footing  among  us 
than  would,  without  thoughtful  consideration,  be 
supposed.  Yes,  we  are  an  unmitigated  nation  of 
braggarts  !  " 

"Why,  how  you  speak!  "  said  Henrietta,  laying 
her  jewelled  finger  upon  his  arm  with  as  much 
familiarity  as  if  she  had  known,  him  for  }^ears,  in- 


50  HENRIETTA. 

stead  of  a  few  hours,  as  she  looked  him  full  in  the 
face  with  her  fine  eyes — were  there  ever  such 
eyes  ?  thought  her  companion. 

"I'm  sure  I  can  not  see  what  fault  you  have 
to  find  with  our  present  melodies.  I  think  them 
delightful  ;  but,  to  be  sure,  I  know  but  little  of 
the  poets  you  speak  of,  or  of  their  works.  If  I 
did  it  might  make  a  difference.  I  like  one  or  two 
old  songs,  "Robin  Adair,"  for  instance.  That  is 
a  fine  song — so  much  of  womanly  feeling  and 
constancy  breathing  through  its  lines  ;  there  is 
inspiration,  true  and  natural,  for  you.  Shall  I 
sing  it  ?  " 

Charles  would  have  allowed  her  to  sing  any- 
thing and  every  thing,  no  matter  how  long 
the  time  consumed,  so  delightfully  sweet  did 
he  find  it  to  be  near  her. 

Her  aunt,  he  mused,  was  right,  as  he  watched 
her  fingers  running  lightly  over  the  keys,  and 
the  delicate  curve  of  her  neck  and  chin,  as  with 
a  clear,  full  voice,  she  trilled  her  favorite  song. 

"She  is  a  charming  woman,  certainly,  the  most 
charming  I  ever  met,  be  her  nose  retrousse  or 
Grecian  ;  but  it  is  neither,  it  is  rather  an  inter- 
mediate form,  and,  indeed,  no  other  sort  would 
harmonize  with  the  fine  lineaments  of  her  face." 

The  plain,  unvarnished  truth  —  as  some  old 
chronicler  would  say — was  that  the  man  was  fairly 
in  love  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  and  that  with 
this  fascinating  creature  of  so  short  acquaint- 
ance, and  of  whose  antecedants  he  knew  so 
little. 


HENRIETTA.  51 

Farewell,  Madame  Desmond,  to  all  your  cher- 
ished schemes  for  presenting  a  thing  of  this  sort! 

Farewell  to  your  plans  for  keeping  John  from 
the  pale-faced  artist  girl!  She  is  now  his  to  woo,  to 
win  and  to  marry,  for  anything  that  Charles  Len- 
nox will  do  to  prevent. 

He  had  never  loved  her. 

Admiration  is  not  love,  and  respect  is  not  love  ; 
he  found  it  to-night  for  the  first  time  in  his  life, 
and  found,  too,  that,  fine  and  elevated  as  they  are, 
they  yet  contain  none  of  the  ecstatic  joys  -which 
the  blind  little  winged  god,  Cupid,  can  confer 
upon  whom  he  sees  fit  to  rest  in  his  blind  flight. 

He  had  imagined  that  he  thought  a  great  deal 
of  Eldie,  but  that  it  was  only  in  a  brotherly  way, 
and  not  after  the  fashion  of  a  man's  love  for  the 
woman  he  would  make  his  \vife,  was  fully  demon- 
strated to  his  heart  to-night.  Every  Adam  should 
have  an  Eve,  and  this  was  his  Eve,  or  else  none 
existed  for  him — most  dismal  thought  ;  but  he 
hoped  for  a  better  fortune. 

He  deprecated  the  bitter  seeds  so  apt  to  be 
strewn  by  a  malicious  and  envious  fate  among 
the  ambrosial  food  upon  which  lovers  dine. 

The  elfin  sprit  was  busy,  also,  in  another  corner 
of  the  room. 

It  was  where  Major  Stewart  had  seated  himself 
at  the  little  chess  table,  and  was  talking  in  his 
grandiose,  cavalier-like  way  to  the  small  group 
of  players  about  the  success  of  their  game,  as  to 
how  many  had  lost,  or  how  many  had  won,  and 
was  the  number  of  each  about  even  ? 


52  HENRIETTA. 

Anna  Desmond,  he  found,  was  the  trump  in 
the  affair,  and  it  pleased  him  greatly. 

He  had  always  liked  the  twins,  whom  he  met 
on  his  frequent  visits  to  see  his  old  friend  and 
schoolmate,  Alfred  Desmond,  but  of  late  he  seemed 
to  be  drifting  m  re  toward  Anna  in  his  affections; 
thus  leaving  her  sister  the  least  bit  to  the  lar- 
board side,  in  sailors'  parlance. 

But  this  night  may  be  set  down  as  the  decid- 
ing turn  of  his  passion  for  the  fair-haired,  timid 
damsel,  who  might  have  been  his  daughter,  and 
a  few  years  to  spare. 

He  had  been  in  love  many  a  time  before,  during 
the  years  of  his  gallant  and  debonair  life — that  is, 
such  a  love  as  is  usual  to  a  man  of  his  cold,  proud 
temperament:  a  love  which  time  and  a  little  separa- 
tion soon  cools,  so  that  he  had,  notwithstanding 
these  many  times,  never  been  long  enough  in  the 
toils  to  allow  himself  to  enter  the  list  matrimonial. 

The  object  of  his  wavering  fancy  had,  it  seemed, 
this  time  left  a  more  abiding  impression  than 
usual,  and  he  meant  to  ask  her  hand  in  marriage 
in  less  than  a  year.  Time  did  not  seriously  inter- 
vene in  the  \\ray  of  prevention. 

In  a  short  time  the  remaining  guests  took  their 
departure,  each  wending  his  way  homeward, 
among  them  Major  Stewart,  to  his  city  boarding- 
house,  Charles  Lennox  to  the  comfortable  farm- 
house of  his  maternal  relative,  and  Clipper  to  his 
wood-embowered  hut. 

Three  men  in  the  condition  amo,  but  each  with 
a  piece  of  femininity  widely  differing  in  character. 


HENRIETTA.  53 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  tea  party  was  inaugurated  at  the  home  of 
Hannah. 

Not  that  the  worthy  woman  often  indulged  in 
anything  of  that  sort,  but  the  days  were  tedious 
in  that  out-lying  district  from  which  few  excur- 
sions could  be  made  into  the  city;  and  then,  along 
with  the  consideration  of  doing  something  to  en- 
liven her  neighbors  somewhat,  there  "was  the 
more  practical  one  of  by  this  means,  having  all 
those  carpet  rags  sewed,  -which  she  \vould  so 
badly  need  in  the  spring! 

It  was  a  sensible  way  of  hitting  two  birds  with 
one  stone,  and  has  always  been  prevalent  in  rural 
parts. 

It  is  about  as  good  a  way  for  the  dissemination 
of  news  as  any  lover  of  gossip  could  -wish. 

At  this  gathering  \vere  Mrs.  Fairchild,  Mrs. 
Westoii,  Mrs.  Finch  and  Mrs.  Babbit — principal 
ladies  of  the  community — with  a  dozen,  perhaps, 
of  the  wall-flower  kind,  who,  in  their  butter-cup 
modesty,  were  quite  over-shadowed  by  their  more 
brilliant,  sun-flower  sisters. 

"  Did  you  hear,"  asked  Mrs.  Weston,  after  the 
conversation  had  been  fairly  launched,  "that 
Charles  Lennox  is  quite  taken  \vith  that  niece  of 
Mrs.  Desmond?" 


54  HENRIETTA. 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  it,"  answered  one  of  the  prin- 
cipals. 

"Well,  I  don't  wonder  that  he  is,"  meekly  put  in 
one  of  the  wall-flowers,  "for  she  is  so  handsome." 

"'Handsome  is  that  handsome  does'  is  an  old 
and  true  saying,"  said  the  first  speaker,  a  little 
sharply,  \vith  a  keen  look  toward  her  of  the  wall, 
as  if  to  warn  her  not  to  venture  too  far  out  of  her 
place. 

"I  guess  that  aphorism  will  suit  Miss  Dudley, 
also,"  said  Mrs.  Fairchild,  "  as  she  seems  to  be  a 
lady  in  the  true  sense  of  that  much  abused  word." 

"Distinguished  looking,  too,"  added  Mrs.  Wes- 
ton ;  "  seems  to  have  a  good  deal  of  mental  force, 
held  in  reserve,  of  course,  as  any  woman  of  refine- 
ment \vould  keep  it." 

"And  \vhjr  in  reserve?"  ventured  a  wall-flower. 

"In  reserve,  because  no  true  lady  cares  to  bring 
out  ability  of  that  sort,  and,  if  possessed  of  it, 
merely  keeps  it  as  a  sort  of  fund,  upon  which  she 
might  fall  back,  in  case  fortune  should  turn  an 
iron  front  to  her,  or  her  money  take  wings  and  fly 
off,  as  it  sometimes  does  from  the  best  regulated 
of  human  beings." 

"That  is  a  poor  figure  to  apply  to  money — I 
mean  of  its  'flying  off.'  Now,  money  that  would 
so  act,  must  needs  all  be  in  paper;  gold  and  silver 
would  never  take  wings." 

"Well  then  sink  into  the  earth,  I  will  say,  if 
that  suits  your  idea  better;  or  it  might  pass  into 
the  hands  of  a  thief  or  a  mortgagor,  not  that  I 
consider  the  two  synonymous — far  from  it." 


HENRIETTA.  55 

"  Not  a  great  deal  of  difference,  sometimes,"  said 
Mrs.  Finch. 

"I  know  of  a  family  in  the  neighborhood  who 
have  hypothecated  their  furniture  through  neces- 
sity occasioned  by  sickness  and  other  misfor- 
tunes, and  the  interest  is  so  great  that  it  is  all 
they  can  do  to  keep  it  paid;  with  no  prospect  of 
being  able  to  raise  the  principal,  thus  living  with 
a  two-edged  sworcl,  as  it  \vere,  continually  sus- 
pended, by  the  merest  thread,  above  them;  and 
their  mortgagor,  instead  of  mercifully  allowing 
them  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty,  just  keeps 
preying  upon  their  earnings  even  though  they 
starve  for  it.  A  human  shark,  he  is,  and  nothing 
less!" 

"Well,  Mrs.  Finch,"  said  Mrs.  Fairchild,  "if  you 
had  money  to  loan,  wouldn't  you  feel  like  getting 
all  you  could  for  it?  I  am  sure  that  I  should,  and 
consider  nothing  unjust  in  so  doing." 

"A  veritable  Shylock  you  would  be." 

"A  veritable  just  person  I  should  be,  that  is  all. 
There  is  entirely  too  much  idle  sympathy  ex- 
pended upon  persons  of  that  sort,  for.  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  they  are  altogether  unworthy  of  it. 
Why  do  they  get  in  arrears,  that  is  what  I  want  to 
know.  It  is  strange  that  such  cannot  manage  to 
get  along  \vithout  borrowing  money  of  others." 

"I  think  the  conversation  is  becoming  rather 
desultory,"  said  Mrs.  Babbit;  "it  has  a  vagrant 
tendency  of  which  I  do  not  approve  altogether." 

"It  has  become  a  little  spidery,  but  we  can 
easily  draw  the  web  back  to  its  former  position. 


56  HENRIETTA. 

Let's  see ;   I  believe  we  were  talking  of  the   fair 
stranger,  Miss  Dudle3T." 

"You  were  speaking,"  said  a  wall-flower,  who 
seemed  to  be  possessed  of  a  little  more  spirit  than 
her  sisters,  "of  certain  resources  of  the  young 
lady,  which  might  be  brought  to  the  surface,  in 
case  she  \vere  reduced  to  povert}",  after  she 
ceased  to  be  a  lady.  Now,  I  always  have  been 
under  the  impression  that  the  parts  which  go  to 
form  a  woman  worthy  of  the  title,  would  re- 
main with  her  equally  in  indigence  or  affluence." 

"I  see,"  said  Mrs.  Fairchild,  "that  you  are  in 
keeping  with  the  Websterian  definition — '  Lad}"  : 
a  woman  of  education  and  refined  manner' — but 
that  has  become  obsolete.  When  Webster  wrote 
that,  he  had  no  idea  of  the  future.  He  knew  not 
of  a  time  when,  through  the  beneficence  of  our 
free  school  plan,  every  tatterdemalian's  child 
\vould  become  educated,  and  as  to  manners,  why, 
they  are  easily  enough  acquired,  so  that  if  the 
ideas  which  were  prevalent  upon  the  subject  sev- 
eral years  ago  \vere  still  in  force,  we  should  have 
every  laborer's  wife  and  every  serving  girl  a  lady. 
A  queer  state  of  affairs,  truly." 

"Nevertheless,"  said  her  opponent,  who  had 
herself  been  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools,  "  I 
believe  that  our  good  Sexeographer  was  right,  and 
that  those  qualifications  mark  the  lady  in  any 
station  of  life.  Such  views  as  you  advance,  Mrs. 
Fairchild,  \vould  bring  us  back  to  the  dark  ages, 
indeed  they  \vould.  I  don't  know  \vhat  to  make 
of  them,  unless  they  symbolize  the  '  abomination 


HENRIETTA.  57 

of  desolation/  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament, 
which  is  to  proclaim  the  near  end  of  time." 

"I  guess  you  have  been  among  the  Advent 
people." 

"No,  I  have   not." 

"But,  to  return  once  more,  does  any  one  sup- 
pose that  it  \vill  be  a  match  between  Charlie  and 
the  fair  Pennsylvahian?" 

"I  for  one  can't  say,  I  am  sure.  She  may  be 
good  enough  for  him,  but  perhaps  his  mother  will 
not  think  so.  It  is  said  that  her  father  is  a  heavy 
owner  in  mine  stock  out  east,  and  consequently 
she  is  rich  enough;  but  old  Mrs.  Lennox  is  a 
stickler  for  blood,  you  see." 

"As  to  her  blood  I  don't  know;  but  I  am  sure  her 
dresses  and  jewelry  fully  bear  out  the  assertion 
about  her  father's  riches,"  said  a  wall-flower,  with 
a  sort  of  frightened  gasp  at  the  end  of  her 
sentence,  as  if  to  say,  "O!  there,  I  have  spoken  too 
much  for  me." 

"Yes,  certainly  all  appears  well  enough  that 
•way,  but  the  Lennox  family,  I  imagine,  will  look 
for  good  descent.  They,  themselves,  claim  rela- 
tionship with  Captain  Lennox,  of  Vermont.  He 
•was  a  great  military  light  in  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution, not  Rebellion,  as  an  English  woman  once 
had  the  impudence  to  call  it  in  my  presence;  but 
I  told  her  that  the  terms  had  a  different  meaning 
attached  to  them.  A  revolution  is  a  successful 
revolt,  and  its  followers  are  styled  heroes;  but,  if 
unsuccessful,  it  is  a  rebellion,  and  its  followers  are 
called  rebels." 


58  HENRIETTA. 

"Well,  as  I  was  saying,  this  Captain  Lennox 
traced  his  lineage  away  back  among  the  Scottish 
nobility,  to  the  time  -when  one  of  his  female  ances- 
tors received  as  a  gift  for  her  undaunted  lo3Talty 
as  much  land  as  she  could  \valk  around  while  her 
fugitive  monarch,  Robert  Bruce,  and  a  companion 
of  his,  ate  their  breakfast  in  her  sheeling.  The 
good  dame,  being  tall  and  masculine,  took  long 
and  rapid  strides,  and  so  compassed  more  of  the 
bargain  than  the  king  \vould  have  thought  possi- 
ble in  the  time;  but  he  was  in  for  it,  as  the  saying 
is,  and  from  that  time  on  her  family  were  the 
Lennox,  of  Lennox  Brae,  County  of  Galloway.  So 
much  is  to  be  found  in  the  legends  of  those  parts." 

"Now  these  Pennsylvania  people  have,  for  the 
most  part,  no  claims  to  good  descent,  in  fact,  think 
very  little  about  it.  I  know,  as  I  once  lived  among 
them." 

"They  have  a  good  deal  of  superstition,  though, 
have'nt  they?"  asked  Mrs.  Weston. 

"Superstition?     I  should  say  the}'  have!" 

"Not,  of  course,  among  the  better  informed 
class,  but  among  the  common  people,  especially 
those  of  German  origin.  Why,  I  know  a  family 
that  lived  for  ten  years  in  a  house  which,  accord- 
ing to  their  saying,  was  haunted  in  the  worst  kind 
of  a  way ! " 

"Wonderful  were  the  tales  they  had  to  relate 
of  a  woman  in  \vhite,  to  be  met  on  dark  nights 
in  chamber  and  stairway  or  along  corrider;  of 
the  stain  of  blood  in  one  of  the  rooms  which 
no  scouring  could  erase,  and  the  many  arid 


J//:\A'IETTA.  59 

mysterious  noises  to  be  heard  at  almost  all 
seasons !" 

"There  was  an  old  mill  a  few  rods  from  the 
house,  which,  in  its  day,  had  done  substantial 
duty  by  supplying  the  neighborhood  with  flour,  but 
had  been  in  a  decaj'iiig  condition  for  many  years." 

"The  machinery  of  this  mill,  or  what  still  re- 
mained of  it,  would,  they  averred,  start  up  at  the 
most  uncanny  hour  of  the  night  with  a  clang  and 
rattle,  as  if  the  demons  at  \vork  with  it  meant  to 
be  heard,  if  not  seen  !" 

"I  should  have  felt  like  getting  out  of  that  place 
as  soon  as  I  could,"  said  Mrs.  Babbit.  "Were  they 
honest  people?" 

"Yes,  they  were  thoroughly  honest  and  religious 
as  well.  They  really  must  have  been  sincere  in 
their  belief  of  the  marvels." 

"To  prove  that  they  \vere  not  alone  in  the 
matter,  when,  upon  their  removal  to  a  new  house 
of  their  own,  another  family  took  possession  of 
the  vacated  premises,  strangers,  mind  you,  from  a 
distant  section,  they  would  not  stay  in  it  at  all,  but 
left  after  an  occupancy  of  two  days.  From  that 
on  the  old  place  fell  to  pieces  through  neglect 
and  decay." 

"Strange  it  is,"  said  Mrs.  Finch,  "that  any  one 
should  be  found  in  this  age  of  intellectual  advance, 
holding  ideas  of  that  sort;  for  I  claim  that  we  do 
march  onward  in  the  right  direction,  old  fogies 
and  croakers  to  the  contrary  nevertheless." 

"  Most  certainly,  we  do  live  in  a  progressive  age, 
as  I  said. to  William  Clipper  the  other  day  when 


60  HENRIETTA. 

he  came  to  my  house  with  some  fish.  By  the 
way,  what  provokingl3T  odd  ideas  that  man  does 
have  on  a  good  many  subjects.  Do  you  know  that 
he  had  the  audacity  to  tell  me  the  other  day  that 
it  was  just  as  much  of  a  sin  to  enter  into  the  abso- 
lute pursuit  of  riches  as  it  was  to  break  any  one 
of  the  ten  commandments,  and  should  be  con- 
sidered as  disgraceful ! " 

"He  furthermore  said  that  the  latter  came  from 
God  through  the  medium,  Moses,  a  man  only;  but 
that  the  saying  in  regard  to  a  love  of  riches  came 
directly  from  God's  son  ! " 

"That  was  queer  talk,"  said  Mrs.  Weston. 

"He  spoke  about  the  ministers,  too,  and  pointed 
to  the  way  in  which  they  all,  or  most  of  them — 
for  he  made  some  allowance  as  an  exception — 
made  out  to  get  as  far  away  from  the  subject  of 
Dives  and  Lazerns,  or  of  the  camel  and  the 
needle's  eye  as  possible." 

"I  presume,"  said  Mrs.  Babbit,  "that  any 
clergyman  who  would  take  up  as  a  theme, 
propositions  of  that  sort,  would  at  once  make 
himself  exceedingly  unpopular.  The  skillful 
minister  will  s.eek  to  explain  the  doings  of 
Joshua,  David  or  the  Prophets,  rather  than 
to  touch  upon  topics  suitable  to  the  present 
day,  for,  by  so  doing,  he  keeps  upon  safe 
ground." 

"That  was  precisely  Clipper's  argument." 

"Clipper  is  a  fool,"  said  Mrs.  Finch;  "but  have 
you  heard,"  she  continued,  in  a  suppressed  tone, 
"that  he  has  designs  this  way?" 


HENRIETTA.  61 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  as  much,"  answered  the 
leader,  "but  I  presume  he  might  as  \vell  spare 
himself  his  pains.  Hannah  is  far  too  sensible  a 
woman  to  unite  in  marriage  with  a  man  as  shift- 
less and  nonsensical  as  he  is.  But  do  look  out  of 
the  window,  and  tell  me  whether  that  is  Mrs. 
Flemming,  or  is  it  some  one  else?" 

"It  is  Mrs.  Flemming,"  answered  some  one. 

"Where  can  she  be  going?  Perhaps  to  my 
house,  and  she  \vill  find  no  one  at  home.  She 
comes  there  sometimes  to  get  newspapers  to 
cover  the  shelves  of  her  pantry.  She  said,  the 
last  time  she  was  up,  that  she  did  wish  that 
Flemming  would  take  a  paper,  so  she  might 
then  have  material  for  cutting  patterns  and  such 
like." 

"Dear  me,"  said  Mrs.  Babbitt,  "and  does  she 
never  find  time  to  read  anything  of  the  sort?" 

"How  could  she,  my  dear,  with  all  of  her  family 
to  work  for,  arid  the  worthlessness  of  her  husband 
to  contend  against  as  well?" 

"What  is  the  number  of  them?  A  great  many, 
I  am  sure,  by  the  troop  I  have  seen  playing  about 
the  door." 

"There  are  just  eleven  of  them,"  answered  Mrs. 
Weston,  "all  quite  young,  Agnes,  the  eldest,  being 
but  seventeen." 

As  the  gathering  was  exclusively  American, 
among  whom,  as  a  race,  a  family  of  like  quantity 
is  a  very  rare  exception,  it  caused  a  laugh  to  arise 
among  the  central  group,  which  sent  its  vibrations 
back  to  the  walls,  in  about  the  same  way  that  cir- 


62  HENRIETTA. 

cular  waves  swell  and  fall  when  water  is  dis- 
turbed by  some  heavy  body. 

"  She  preserves  her  health,"  said  the  leader. 

The  laugh  rose  louder  than  before. 

They  all  seemed  to  understand  the  signification 
of  the  sentence. 

"I  heard,"  said  one  of  the  wall-flowers,  "that 
Flemmiiig  is  working  on  a  new  invention;  some 
sort  of  a  wheel,  a  turbine,  I  think  they  call  it,  and 
some  of  his  neighbors  do  think  that  he  \vill  make 
a  success  of  it.  I  for  one  wish  he  \vould,  for  the 
sake  of  his  family,  if  nothing  else." 

"A  plague  upon  his  inventions,  every  one  of 
them,  I  say,  for  the  time  which  he  has  thrown 
away  upon  them.  Why  does  he  not  look  about 
for  something  more  practical?  It  is  the  fruit  of 
those  dreamy  ideas  of  his  that  is  continually 
throwing  his  family  into  want.  Why,  I  have  been 
told  that  the  girl,  Agnes,  keeps  the  breath  in  them 
all  by  the  meagre  wages  of  a  mill-worker,  which 
is  limited,  miserable  as  it  is,  by  the  amount  paid 
out  for  car  fare  to  and  from  the  city." 

Then  the  leader  arose,  as  she  finished  her  sen- 
tence, shook  the  fragments  of  cloth  from  her  apron 
into  the  rag-basket,  \vhile  she  glanced  around  the 
room  to  see  in  what  manner  the  work  was  getting 
along.  As  the  four  principals  had  done  nearly  all 
of  the  talking,  the  greater  part  of  the  sewing  had 
been  accomplished  by  the  more  retiring  members 
of  the  assembly. 

"Ladies,  I  am  afraid  you  are  not  winding  3'our 
rags  just  right,"  she  said,  "you  should  always  put 


HENRIETTA.  63 

the  brightest  colors  on  the  outside,  only  for  the 
looks,  of  course,  but  looks,  you  know,  go  a  great 
way  in  all  things." 

"I  can't  see  what  difference  it  can  make  in  a  ball 
of  carpet  rags,"  a  little  spitefully  put  in  a  wall- 
flower. 

"Well,  it  does  make  a  difference." 

"Yes,  I  know  it  does,"  said  Mrs.  Finch,  "because 
a  weaver  is  apt  to  judge  character  from  just  so 
small  a  standpoint.  The  person  who  sends  care- 
lessly prepared  rags  to  him,  will  receive  in  return 
a  poorly  woven  carpet.  'Straws,'  as  the  saying  is, 
'show  which  way  the  wind  blows,'  and  human  na- 
ture is  so  constructed  that  the  slack  and  untidy 
\vill  continually  be  imposed  upon." 

"Now,  I  call  that  sort  of  talk  deeply  logical," 
said  Mrs.  Babbit,  in  a  pleasantly  ironical  way,  "  it 
might  even  take  down  Plato  himself,  were  he 
here,  and  if  any  of  us  were  spiritualists,  we  might 
suppose  his  ethereal  presence,  and  even  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  he  put  that  very  wise  thought,  as 
to  cause  arid  effect,  into  }^our  head." 

There  was  another  laugh  at  this  sally  of  wit. 

"However,  we  are  not  spiritualists,  thanks  to  a 
happy  horoscope  for  each  of  us,"  said  Mrs.  Wes- 
ton,  "and  what  a  good  thing  it  is  that  the  abomin- 
able doctrine  has  never  taken  root  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. Why,  I  have  heard  of  more  scandals,  di- 
vorces, and  what  not,  engendered  among  families 
by  this  belief,  than  from  any  other  cause.  Yet  I 
cannot  explain  the  reason  why  a  faith  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  dead  with  the  living  should  have 


04  liENRIETTA. 

anything  to  do  with  looseness  of  morals,  free-love, 
and,  in  the  words  of  an  old  lady  acquaintance  of 
mine,  'a  general  queerity  of  mind.'  ' 

"That  is  not  true  spiritualism,"  said  a  bright 
little  woman.  "True  spiritualism  is  one  of  the 
holiest  and  ennobling  of  beliefs,  and  is  taught 
by  all  churches,  if  not  directly,  still  by  impli- 
cation. What  more  sublime  than  the  ancient 
creed  of  the  Communion  of  Saints,  as  taught  by 
the  early  fathers?" 

"Yes,  but  modern  spiritualism  is  supposed  by 
its  followers  to  be  based  upon  some  occult,  philo- 
sophical law,  which  time  will,  in  all  probability, 
so  develop  that  all  may  understand  its  workings. 
Of  course,  I  am  no  advocate  for  its  ni3Tsteries;  I 
merely  retail  what  has  been  told  to.  me  by  those 
who.  are." 

"  Philosophy  or  no  philosophy,"  said  Mrs. 
Finch,  "it  in  no  manner  agrees  with  divine  writ- 
ing. True,  the  Saviour  did  see  Moses  and  Elias, 
as  did  also  the  several  disciples,  but  the  vision  was 
directly  brought  to  them  by  sacred  influence.  What 
wicked  presumption  it  must  be  for  any  mere  mor- 
tal to  assume  the  powers  of  Christ!  and  that  is 
just  what  all  are  doing  who  profess  to  be  able  to 
call  into  their  presence  disembodied  spirits.  Be- 
lieve me,  it  is  all  the  work  of  Satan  !" 

"But,"  said  Mrs.  Fairchild,  "divine  writing  is 
rather  indefinite  in  many  ways,  and  —  in  the  field 
of  scientific  truth  —  the  church  has  committed  her 
errors,  as  we  only  have  to  cite  history  to  prove. 
Her  suffering  outcast,  Galoiielileo,  is  one  notable 


HENRIETTA.  65 

Instance  of  her  entire  fallibility  in  the  matter. 
X<>\v  I,  for  one,  do  not  care  to  condemn  a  doctrine 
or  theory  of  which  I  know  nothing,  because,  from 
this  very  fact  of  my  ignorance  in  the  matter,  I  am 
not  capable  to  judge.  I  am,  in  this  respect,  like  a 
physician  I  once  knew  out  among  the  fore-men- 
lioned  devotees  of  vulgar  metaphysics,  or,  in 
plainer  terms,  spook  seers,  if  I  may  so  call  them. 
In  the  course  of  practice  he  often  came  to  a  patient 
•who,  along  with  his  own  skill,  had  also  called  in 
that  of  a  neighbor,  who  could  stop  the  course  of 
disease  by  incantations  or  pow-wowing,  as  it  is 
called  in  those  parts.  The  good  doctor  paid  no 
heed,  Whatever,  so  long  as  they  did  nothing  con- 
trary to  his  directions,  upon  the  thought  that  if 
they  did  no  good,  they  could  do  no  harm." 

"Quite  kind  of  him;"  said  Mrs.  Finch.  "I  know 
of  some  of  the  class  who  \vould  at  once  have  donned 
their  cloak  of  Bsculapian  dignity;  and  have  or- 
dered the  conjurors  from  his  patients,  or  else  re- 
signed all  care  of  them." 

At  this  moment  the  spare  face  of  Hannah  was 
seen  at  the  door  to  invite  them  out  into  the  dining 
room  to  tea. 

The  good  woman  had  her  own  ideas  of  how 
guests  ought  to  be  treated.  No  lap  lunches  for 
her! 

They  were  entirely  too  meagre  in  the  way  of  re- 
freshment and  gave,  she  would  say,  an  appearance 
of  either  stinginess  or  laziness  on  the  part  of  the 
hostess,  either  of  wlych  abstract  qualities  she 
utterly  abhorred. 


66  HENRIETTA. 

Hannah  was  not  stingy  in  all  cases  where  her 
judgment  told  her  that  liberality  was  proper,  nor 
was  she  lazy  because  an  indulgence  in  that  way 
\vould  have  compromised  the  title  she  had  earned 
of  the  best  house-keeper  in  the  neighborhood;  and 
no  statesman  of  eminence  was  more  proud  of  his 
position  than  she  of  hers,  in  her  proper  sphere. 

Therefore,  the  supper  was  a  marvel  of  culinary 
skill,  of  abundance  and  variety.  It  was  a  dinner 
and  supper  combined,  with  roast  fowl,  cold  ham 
and  oysters  by  way  of  meats,  a  half  dozen  sorts  of 
vegetables,  pies,  cakes,  fruit  and  cream.  Both 
hyson  and  mocha  as  a  beverage,  so  that  really  the 
guests  must  have  thought  that  "tea"  was  rather 
too  light  a  name  for  a  collation  so  extensive. 

"  Oh  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Weston  on  the  way  home, 
"who  would  have  expected  to  find  a  meal  served 
up  after  that  style.  Why,  one  \vould  suppose  that 
Hannah  had  in  view  the  victualing  of  a  gang  of 
bootblacks  or  some  other  equally  hungry  crowd." 

"It's  the  custom  in  the  part  of  the  east  where 
she  came  from.  There  they  live  to  eat  instead  of 
eating  to  live,  as  the  saying  goes.  The  three-fold 
nature  of  human  existence  is  scarce!}'  recognized. 
The  intellectual  is  but  scantily  cultivated;  the 
moral  or  spiritual  perhaps  a  little  more,  but  the 
physical  is  the  one  that  prominently  stands  out  in. 
bold  relief,  as  against  the  two  other  ones." 

"Well,  at  any  rate,  I  think  we  have  all  enjoyed 
ourselves  at  Hannah's,"  said  Mrs.  Finch.  "She  is 
a  nice  woman,  and  I  hope  tjiat  she  will  not  throw 
herself  away  on  that  Clipper." 


HENRIETTA.  67 

Here  the}'  had  reached  a  separating  point, 
whence  each  was  to  go  in  different  directions  to 
their  several  homes. 


68  HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER  V. 

It  was  June  when.  Henrietta  came  among  them, 
and  it  was  no\v  the  latter  part  of  September,  the 
beautiful  dreamy  seventh  month  of  the  Latins,  the 
month  which  in  Northern  climes  takes  the  place 
that  her  later  sister,  October,  does  in  lands  lying 
further  toward  the  tropics. 

In  the  State  of  Minnesota  it  is  a  grand  month, 
for  now  the  heat  of  summer  is  modified  by  the  least 
felt  chills  of  the  coming  "winter,  outriders  from 
the  camp  of  the  storm-king  of  the  Arctic  Zone, 
who  has  come  to  give  warning  of  his  approach,  but 
as  yet  he  is  far  off,  and  his  weak  messengers  but 
add  a  charm  where  their  commander  means  to 
desolate. 

It  was  just  the  season  for  a  man  in  love  to  think 
about  picnics,  excursions,  or  a  boat  ride  by  moon- 
light. 

A  day  to  be  spent  among  the  wildly  rugged 
hills  and  upland  lakes  lying  back  of  the  farm 
boundaries  was  suggested  by  Lennox. 

It  was  proposed  that  after  a  forenoon  spent  in 
rambling  and  fishing,  they  should  all  meet  at  a 
point  where  a  woodland  dinner,  in  true  gypsy 
fashion,  would  be  in  readiness,  under  the  care  of 
two  or  three  experts  in  such  matters;  among  them 
Hannah  who  agreed  to  come,  provided  Clipper  be 


HENRIETTAt  69 

excluded  from  the  company,  and,  of  course,  she  had 
her  way,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  some  of  the 
company  who  considered  her  whim  to  be  mere 
foll}r  in  keeping  away  a  man  who  knew  so  much 
of  the  art  of  taking  fish  either  by  net  or  line. 

Clipper  was,  however,  in  happy  ignorance  of  his 
fair  Dulcina's  decision,  as  he  had  left  the  day 
before  the  affair  came  off  to  go  on  a  hazelnut 
gathering,  quite  a  distance  away,  and  also  to  take 
a  prospect  as  to  the  ginseng  business  during  the 
coming  year;  for  he  really  \vished  to  do  something 
to  make  Hannah  think  more  of  his  money-making 
abilities  than  she  did  at  present. 

There  were  but  eight  couples  invited,  including 
the  twins,  Major  Stewart,  and  a  friend  of  his  from 
the  city;  John  and  Eldie,  Robert  Orme  and  Agnes 
Flemming,  Lennox  and  Henrietta,  the  remainder 
being  composed  of  young  farmers  and  their 
sweethearts. 

The  day  was  all  that  could  be  desired  for  the 
occasion,  with  a  calmness  sufficient  for  the  great 
stretch  of  forest  to  seem  one  immense  picture  of 
Turner-like  painting,  with  its  brilliant  hues  of 
scarlet,  orange,  brown  and  russet,  in  all  of  their 
varied  shades;  only  that  Turner  was  in  shadow 
when  compared  with  the  art  here  displayed,  for, 
as  the  hand  of  some  fatal  disease  \vill  touch  the 
cheek  of  lovliness  with  a  more  vivid  and  enhanc- 
ing glow  before  his  last  destroying  blow  be  given, 
so  the  great  Autumn-painter  spreads  his  tints 
with  a  lavish  brush  as  a  farewell  feast  of  beauty 
and  of  color  to  the  dying  year. 


70  HENRIETTA. 

And  the  skies  !  What  mere  human  artist  ever 
could  produce  the  softl}"  formed  masses  of  white 
and  of  pearl,  silently  reposing  on  their  bed  of  blue, 
or  the  fine  lace-like  filaments  lying  like  a  veil  over 
the  surface?  Not  one. 

Art  is,  at  best,  but  a  poor  imitation  of  nature; 
therefore,  whoever  would  see  it  in  its  best  sense 
must  seek  for  it  among  the  mystic  depths  of  the 
forest,  in  the  swelling  roll  of  wave  and  billow,  in 
the  smooth  surface  of  lake  and  river,  or  the  chang- 
ing hue  of  the  sky  and  clouds. 

Lennox  enjoyed  the  scene  more  than  he  had 
ever  before  done  anything  of  the  sort,  for,  unlike 
Clipper  or  Orme,  he  usually  cared  but  little  for 
nature's  work  when  unvarnished  by  the  hand  of 
man. 

On  this  day  all  looked  to  him  exceedingly  fair. 

Nothing,  it  seemed,  could  have  power  to  dampen 
his  ecstatic  joy,  engendered  by  these  first  days  of 
passionate  love,  and  he  felt  fully  satisfied  with 
himself  and  all  of  the  world. 

He  revelled  in  a  realm  of  dreamy  happiness, 
broken  only  by  .a  vague  thought  which  would,  at 
times,  intrude  itself,  that,  perhaps,  after  all  his 
air  castles,  this  gem  among  women,  this  peerless 
princess,  might  not  be  willing  to  accept  him  as  a 
husband. 

His  mother  had  met  her  several  times,  and 
though  \vell  enough  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  a 
marriage  between  them,  so  far  as  Desmond's 
family  went,  yet,  with  a  woman's  instinct,  she  saw 
further  into  the  character  of  her  who  might 


HENRIETTA.  71 

become  her  daughter-in-law  than  did  her  love- 
blind  son. 

She  thought  that  she  could  detect  symptoms  of 
a  cool,  calculating  mind,  coupled  with  an  un- 
principled heart  under  all  of  the  wondrous  beauty 
of  the  girl,  and,  at  one  time,  ventured  to  suggest 
her  thoughts  to  her  son,  but  he  would  listen  to 
no  such  talk,  come  it  from  whatever  source  it 
might. 

He  determined  to-day  to  make  to  her  a  formal 
declaration  of  his  love,  with  an  offer  of  his  hand 
and  fortune,  such  as  it  was. 

There  were  some  misgivings  on  that  score,  of 
the  last,  but  he  would  waive  them  for  the  present. 

Marry  first,  to  the  woman  he  adored,  and  look  as 
to  a  means  of  subsistence  afterward. 

That  was  the  general  way  he  had  observed. 

Few  men  ever  thought  of  saving  anything  until 
after  they  \vere  married.  It  seemed  as  though 
the}7  were  really  unable  to  the  task  of  laying 
away  a  dollar  until  after  that  portentious  event. 

Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  as  a  maiden  aunt  of  his 
used  to  say,  "they  make  the  wonderful  discovery 
that  what  had  been  used  to  support  one  will  now 
not  only  support  two,  with  a  prospective  of  a  hand- 
ful of  babies  in  a  short  time,  but,  also,  leave  a 
margin  to  save  money  upon!" 

"Most  glorious  of  paradoxes,"  she  would  add, 
"  are  these  husbands  ! " 

"Oh,  how  they  want  a  woman  to  marry  them 
for  pure  love  of  their  own  precious  selves,  and 
then  the  fortune  that  should,  at  least,  have  had  a 


7'_>  HENRIETTA. 

beginning,  must  now  be  extracted  from  the  bones- 
arid  blood  of  wife  and  little  ones  !" 

These  were  her  very  words,  he  remembered,  but 
they  should  riot  influence  him  in  his  matrimonial 
undertaking. 

What  were  they,  anyway,  he  reasoned,  but  the 
senseless  chatter  of  an  unreasonable  old  maidr 
who,  perhaps,  \vould  only  be  too  glad  of  the  chance 
to  help  some  man  to  get  011  in  the  world ! 

During  this  mental  soliloquy  he  was  reclining 
on  the  sloping  bank  of  a  small  lake,  at  a  point 
where  an  everglade  of  brightest  emerald  run  up 
among  the  trees,  and  at  whose  top  a  knot  of  3Toung 

folks    were    industriously    making     garlands,    of 

% 
golden-rod,  asters,  lupines  arid  michaelmas  daisies. 

Hetty  had  fixed  her  rod  and  line  for  a  bite  of 
pickerel  or  bass,  arid,  with  her  hat  laid  aside,  was 
leisurely  strolling  along  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  water;  stooping,  at  times,  to  pick  up  the  tiny 
spiral  shells  or  shiny  pebbles  from  the  wet  sand. 

How  enchanting  she  looked  in  her  dress  of 
white  mull  and  lace,  with  no  ornament  except  a 
bunch  of  crimson  rose  hips  carelessly  fixed  among 
the  clusters  of  her  hair;  in  gorgeous  contrast  to 
the  golden  threads  created  among  its  dark  bronze 
by  the  sifted  sun  rays  from  the  quivering 
aspens  above,  and  which  gave  to  it  the  peculiar 
tint  so  often  seen  in  the  Madonnas  of  the  old 
masters. 

As  she  came  around  the  bend  of  the  bank 
toward  him,  their  eyes  met,  and  she  was  near 
enough  for  him  to  notice  the  slight  flush,  which 


HENRIETTA.  73 

deepened  the  tint  on  cheek  and  lip,  at  the  en- 
counter. 

She  loves  me,  he  thought.  Oh,  joy!  This  is  an 
evidence,  and  now  is  my  time  to  make  sure  of  my 
happiness. 

"  Miss  Dudley,  or  Hetty,  which  shall  it  be?" 

"As  you  please,"  she  answered,  \vith  a  slight  but 
graceful  bow,  "I  am  not  at  all  formal  where  my 
friends  are  concerned." 

Lennox  arose  and  stood  by  her  §ide. 

She  looked  down  upon  the  quiet  water  at  her 
feet  in  a  confused  sort  of  way,  as  if,  intuitively, 
she  knew  of  his  intention,  and  was  at  a  loss  how 
to  act. 

"Look,"  she  said,  in  order  to  turn  his  thoughts 
into  a  different  channel,  "  here  is  a  cluster  of 
senna,  and  yonder,  in  the  shade  of  that  boulder, 
are  some  gentian  flowers.  Blue  and  yellow;  how 
do  you  like  the  contrast?" 

"I  know  little  of  flowers,"  he  replied,  "and  the 
mingling  of  their  colors  is  the  last  thing  to  come 
into  my  thoughts  at  this  time.  I  make  human 
flowers  my  study,  and  you  are  the  sweetest  and 
fairest  I  have  ever  seen." 

"You  are  a  trifler,  I  fear,"  she  said,  looking  grave- 
ly down  again  at  the  senna  flowers  in  her  hand. 

"No  trifler,  I  assure  you,"  as  he  took  her  hand 
in  his,  and  from  this  warm  clasp  she  either  had 
not  the  inclination  to  withdraw,  or  else  the  mag- 
netism of  this  man  was  as  the  electric  current 
acting  upon  a  thing  of  life,  and  was  altogether  ir- 
resistible. 


74  HENRIETTA. 

He  was  elated  at  her  passiveness. 

"And  so,"  he  resumed,  "  I  am  classed  among  your 
friends,  Hetty!  But  I  would  be  more  than  a  friend! 
more  than  a  brother!  more  than  a  father,  even!" 

"Do  \TOU  hear  me,  Hett}-?" 

The  head  bent  lower,  the  dye  deepened  over  her 
face,  but  she  made  no  answer. 

"In  plainer  words,  my  darling,  I  would  make 
you  my  wife  to  love  and  cherish,  through  all  time. 
Indeed,  such  is  the  strength  of  my  passion  that  1 
would  willingly  brave  every  danger  for  your  sake?, 
and  should  I  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  called 
upon  to  lay  your  fair  form  in  the  cold  bosom  of 
earth,  yet  -would  my  spirit  follow  3Tou  into  the  un- 
known realms  and  there  claim  you  for  my  very 
own!" 

Trembling  with  emotion,  he  clasped  his  arms 
about  her  still  motionless  and  drooping  figure. 

"Shall  it  be,  my  Hetty,  my  love?  Will  you  be 
my  wife?  " 

"I  will,"  she  answered,  raising  her  face  to  his; 
"  that  is,  if  nothing  comes  between  us,  if  the  fates 
will  it." 

"Thank  you,"  he  said  fervently,  with  his  whole 
heart  in  his  words,  as  he  stooped  to  kiss  her  upon 
brow  and  cheek,  and  for  awhile  he  thought  of 
nothing  but  the  blissful  fact  that  she  had  promis- 
ed to  be  his. 

After  a  while,  as  the}'  walked  forth  and  back 
along  the  strand,  the  provisional  part  of  her  prom- 
ise came  to  him;  "if  nothing  comes  between  us,  if 
the  fates  allow  it!" 


HENRIETTA.  75 

Why  should  anything  be  allowed  to  come 
between  them?  He  really  wished  it  had  been 
given  a  little  more  unconditional,  but  he  mentally 
resolved  to  not  run  the  risk  of  marring  his  present 
happiness  by  a  mention  of  it. 

A  half  hour  fled  on  golden  wings. 

The  fish  had  failed  to  take  more  than  a  nibble, 
but  had  done  it  so  often,  and  so  skillfully,  that  the 
bait  was  all  consumed. 

As  they  \vere  about  to  cast  out  at  a  more  con- 
venient point,  the  sound  of  voices  was  \vafted  to 
their  ears  across  the  \vater,  and  looking  toward 
the  opposite  shore  they  saw  young  Orme  and 
Agnes  Flemmirig  sitting  under  the  oaks,  surround- 
ed by  heaps  of  flowers  and  mosses. 

The}r  had  just  came  in  from  the  rocky  head- 
lands back  of  them,  \vhere  a  profusion  of  things 
which  pleased  them  both,  were  to  be  found. 

Robert  had  with  him  his  book  of  Botany,  and 
Agnes  had  a  work  on  Geology. 

They  were  earnestly  conversing,  but  their  tone 
and  manner  were  not  those  of  lovers,  but  of 
friends  rather,  in  whose  mental  construction  the 
similarity  was  so  great,  as  to  cause  a  strong  vein 
of  sympathy  between  them. 

This,  indeed,  was  the  truth. 

"I  think,"  said  Agnes,  "that  this  must  belong 
to  the  Tertiary  period,"  producing  as  she  spoke,  a 
piece  of  curious  stone,  with  bits  of  a  coal-like  sub- 
stance injected  into  it  mosaic-wise. 

"And  this  sandstone  must  be  of  the  Jurassic 
time." 


76  HENRIETTA. 

"I,"  said  Robert,  "am  not  so  well  up  in  lithology 
as  I  should  like  to  be,  but  if  you  wish  any  assist- 
ance in  dissecting  and  naming  the  flowers,  why, 
I  am  at  your  service,  as  my  botonical  studies  have 
been  more  extensive." 

"Then,"  she  said,  "I  should  like  to  know  the  sort 
of  flower  this  is,"  holding  up  a  little  spike  with 
creamy  florets  threaded  about  it  spirally. 

"That  is  an  Orchid,  and  has  a  delicate  violet 
fragrance  about  it,  if  you  notice." 

"An  Orchid!"  she  exclaimed  delightedly,  "why, 
I  thought  that  they  grew  only  in  the  tropics." 

"Well,  then,  you  have  something  to  learn. 
There  are  several  of  them  here  in  the  Northwest. 
All  of  the  lady-slippers  or  moccasin  flowers  are 
orchids,  and  then  there  is  a  very  fine  one  found 
generally  growing  among  the  phlox  of  the  mead- 
ows. It  is  of  a  beautiful  red-purple  color.  The 
one  in  your  hand  is  the  lady's  finger  orchid." 

The  girl  knew  all  about  the  different  kinds  of 
golden-rods,  of  gentians  and  astors,  but  was  com- 
pelled to  again  ask  for  information  as  to  the  name 
of  a  very  handsome  yellow  flower  and  of  some 
purple  spikes  with  compound  leaves. 

"The  first,"  said  Robert,  "is  the  evening  prim- 
rose, of  which  there  are  several  varieties,  and  the 
other  is  amorpha,  a  very  oddly  formed  little  flower, 
as  seen  when  under  the  glass  of  the  microscope." 

At  length  she  came  to  a  bird's  foot  violet. 

"This,"  she  said,  "I  found  growing  near  the  spot 
where  you  said  that  you  arid  Clipper  sometimes 
set  your  rabbit  traps.  Talk  of  anything  being  out 


HENRIETTA.  77 

of  season!  Why,  the  prime  of  this  flower  was  four 
months  ago,  arid  here  it  is  blooming  now.  This  is 
its  aftermath,  I  suppose.  It  is,  perhaps,  like  some 
human  lives,  who  never  know  any  springtime.  It 
is  all  aftermath  with  them,  or  no  bloom  at  all." 

"Why,  how  philosophical  you  are,"  said  Robert, 
for  a  girl  of  your  3'ears.  How  old  are  }rou, 
Agnes?" 

"Just  sixteen  and  two  months,"  she  replied, 
frankly,  "but,  do  you  know  that  I  sometimes  feel 
as  though  I  was  twenty,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  look 
as  much." 

"No,  that  you  do  not,  but  you  do  have  a  sort  of 
over-worked  look  about  you,  for  one  of  your  time 
of  life.  You  do  work  hard,  Agnes?" 

He  looked  at  her  then  more  closely  than  he  had 
ever  done  before,  when  he  made  the  discovery  that 
she  was  not  beautiful  —  not  fair  looking,  even,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  decidedly  plain,  with  her  irregu- 
lar nose,  large  mouth,  sallow  complexion  and 
light  blue  63'es;  but  her  form  was  elegant  and 
Juno-like  in  its  proportions,  and  her  head,  with 
its  mass  of  chestnut  hair,  had  a  classic  turn  about 
it,  which  gave  her  a  distinguished  air.  He 
thought  of  her  simile  of  the  violet,  and  wondered 
whether  her  life  would  be  all  sterile  and  blossom- 
less,  or  whether  a  glorious  aftermath  might  not, 
in  time,  come  to  her. 

"Yen,  I  work  hard.  I  should  not  be  here  to-day, 
only,  you  know,  that  the  girls  at  our  establish- 
ment are  on  a  strike,  and  so  I  am  idle  by  compul- 
sion, as  it  were.  Yet,  I  do  not  mind  the  work," 


78  HENRIETTA. 

she  said,  bravely,  "onty  I  should  have  liked  to  go 
to  school  for  a  term  or  so  longer,  if  it  could  have 
been  done  without  neglecting  those  that  I  love.  I 
mean  my  parents,  and  my  brothers  arid  sisters." 

"Yes,  I  know,  and  there  is  such  a  family  of  }Tou, 
too.  Let  us  see,  there  must  be  ten,  ar'nt  there?" 

"Just  eleven,"  said  the  girl,  "and  if  Karl  had 
lived  there  would  have  been  a  round  dozen  of  us. 
To  be  sure,  you  remember  Earl.  Had  he  lived  he 
would  have  been  eighteen  now,  and  so  good  a  boy 
as  he  was,  and  so  active,  too,  \vould  certainly  have 
been  a  great  strength  to  poor  father,  and  to  all  of 
us." 

"\Vli3T,  yes,  I  remember  Karl  quite  well.  Don't 
you  know  that  I  was  one  of  the  bo}Ts  who  dragged 
him  out  of  the  river?  I  always  did  believe  that 
he  might  have  been  saved,  only  for  that  awkward 
Ned  Maiiley.  He  couldn't  swim  worth  a  dead 
mud-turtle,  and,  }Tet,  he  foolishly  plunged  in 
ahead  of  me,  and  the  consequence  was  that  some 
of  us  had  to  assist  him,  as  well  as  your  brother. 
Karl  could  swim,  though.  It  was  an  unexpected 
blow  from  a  boom  log  that  caused  him  to  go  down." 

Tears  were  in  the  eyes  of  Agnes  at  the  recital 
of  the  harrowing  event,  and  so  Robert  changed  the 
subject  at  once. 

"What  do  you  propose  doing,  Agnes?  Shall 
you  always  \vork  on  in  this  way,  for  the  benefit  of 
your  family,  without  making  an  effort  for  mental 
improvement  ?  " 

"Yes,  my  course  is  determined.  I  shall  just 
keep  on  working,  and  devote  to  self-improvement 


HENRIETTA.  79 

what  few  spare  moments  I  can  get  from  my  labor, 
in  the  belief  that  this  is  my  dut}7.  By  hard  effort 
I  may,  in  time,  acquire  quite  a  good  deal  of  learn- 
ing. There  are  many  examples  of  self-taught 
people,  who,  if  they  are  not  able  to  reach  the 
point  upon  which  they  might  have  rested,  under 
more  favored  circumstances,  have  yet  the  quiet 
consciousness  of  a  life  well  spent,  along  with  the 
elevated  pleasure  which  flows  from  a  knowledge 
of  books.  Good  books,  I  mean. 

"Well  and  bravely  said,  Agnes;  "but  it  is  a 
long  lane  that  has  no  turn,  you  know  ;  how  will 
it  be  about  getting  married?  Some  man  will  carry 
you  off,  I  am  willing  to  bet,  iri  spite  of  all  your 
resolutions,  or  else  you  are  different  from  the  most 
of  girls.  They  \vill  talk  about  this  and  that  high 
notion,  arid  the  first  thing  one  knows,  farewell  to 
girlhood;  and  they  are  off  to  be  married.  It  seems 
to  be  their  nature  to  end  in  matrimony." 

Agnes  colored  slightly. 

At  this  minute  a  loud  gorig-like  sound  came 
jarring  through  the  forest  stillness,  answered  by 
several  calls  from  different  directions,  and  just 
then,  for  the  first  time,  young  Orme  caught  sight 
of  the  two  entranced  beings  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  water. 

"  I  say,  you  over  there,"  he  cried,  "  are  you  asleep, 
or  has  the  sun  baked  you  into  statues?  Get  up, 
don't  you  hear  the  dinner  call,"  and  then  he  threw 
his  hat  into  the  air,  boy  fashion;  and  gave  three 
whoops,  so  loud  that  they  might  have  excited 
envy  in  the  breast  of  any  Sioux  or  Chippewa 


80  HENRIETTA. 

brave  who  ever  walked  in  these  solitudes  before 
him. 

"I'm  off,"  he  said,  "but  not  without  you,  Agnes. 
Come,  I  will  assist  you  to  gather  up  the  flowers, 
and  remember,  1113'  girl,  that  Bobby  Orme  is 
always  your  friend,  and  willing  to  help  you  all 
that  he  can  in  the  way  of  books." 

Charles  arid  Hetty  also  arose  and"  ascended  the 
incline  of  the  bank,  their  arms  interlaced  in  lover- 
like  fashion;  but  before  they  had  gone  more  than 
a  few  steps  along  the  sylvan  path,  it  was  crossed 
in  front  of  them  by  two  hunters,  dressed  in  the 
suitable  garb  of  sportsmen. 

One  of  them,  a  tall,  dark  man,  with  beetling 
brows  and  piercing  black  eyes,  bowed  to  Hetty,  as 
he  touched  his  hat  in  a  sort  of  military  style, 
while  the  smile  that  passed  over  his  face  had  a 
look  of  recognition  in  it. 

The  young  lady  returned  the  salute  by  a  slight 
bow  of  her  head,  but  with  no  appearance  either  by 
look  or  manner  that  she  acknowledged  anything 
of  an  acquaintance. 

"That  gentleman  seems  to  have  met  you  before." 

"A  mere  fancy,"  she  replied;  but  her  lover 
noticed  a  slight  tremor  of  her  arm,  as  if  it  had 
startled  her  somewhat  to  know  that  he  had  noticed 
the  peculiar  look  in  the  face  of  the  stranger. 

"I  suppose  he  has  met  some  one  who  looks 
almost  as  I  do  and  was  misled  by  the  likeness." 

Then,  of  a  sudden,  she  commenced  a  compari- 
son of  the  present  scenery  with  that  of  her  native 
State. 


HENRIETTA.  81 

"How  tame  your  scenes  are  here,  when  com- 
pared \vith  those  of  my  home." 

"Do  you  not  think  them  fine,  then?" 

"Yes,  delightfully  so  ;  but  I  think  my  preference 
must  go  toward  the  rugged  heights  of  my  own 
state,  with  its  towering,  castellated  rocks  and 
deeply  shaded  ravines;  where  the  wild  mountain 
streams  come  jumping  and  tumbling  down  over 
ferny  steps  and  moss}7  crags,  with  a  music  wild 
and  mystic  as  the  most  poetic  of  tempermeiits 
might  wish.  And  then,  the  winter  scenes,  they 
are  sublime,  I  can  tell  you." 

"You,  who  have  never  been  away  from  this 
more  level  land  of  the  west,  should,  just  for  once, 
see  the  effect  of  moonlight  on  the  mountain  rocks, 
when"  they  are  faced  with  tier  after  tier  of  ice 
stalactites,  glittering  in  the  silver  light  like  a 
thousand  giant  gems.  I  have  passed  them  often 
•while  out  sleighing." 

"  Sleighing  by  moonlight !  That  is  a  fine  recrea- 
tion, indeed,  in  any  country  ;  that  is,  provided  the 
weather  be  not  too  cold,"  said  Lennox. 

"Well,  it  is  not  too  cold  there,  at  an}-  rate,  and  to 
go  softly 'gliding  along  over  the  white  way,  with 
nothing  to  break  the  frozen  stillness,  with  the 
looming  hills  on  one  side  and  the  ice-bound  river 
and  its  bank  on  the  other,  is  an  exhilarating 
affair." 

"But  I  should  think  there  would  be  danger  of 
falling  over  that  batik  into  the  river." 

"Our  drivers  and  our  horses  are  extremely  care- 
ful there.  You  see,  thev  are  so  accustomed  to  travel 


82  HENRIETTA. 

of  that  sort,  that  caution  has  become  to  them  a 
kind  of  second  nature." 

"Yes,  I  have  read  that  caution  is  inherent  in 
mountain  people.  It  is  no  doubt  engendered  by 
generations  of  ancesters,  living  among  such  sur- 
roundings. The  qualit}-  must  be  exercised  in 
order  to  protect  themselves  from  the  accidents 
which  otherwise  might  befall  them.  But  I  imagine 
that  the  mineral  wealth  of  those  mountains  would 
have  more  attractions  for  me  than  would  the  wild- 
ness  of  their  outward  appearance.  I  never  could 
take  the  pleasure  which  some  persons  do  among 
scenes  where  the  mind,  however  gratified  it  may 
be,  in  a  poetic  point  of  view,  must  be  pained  when 
it  contemplates  the  inconvenience  suffered  by  the 
inhabitants  in  climbing  over  the  rough  lands  and 
declivities." 

"Look  through  this  opening  and  you  will  have 
a  good  view  of  the  river  valley  and  its  farms. 
There  you  will  see,  on  their  expanse,  no  such  dif- 
ficulties to  be  encountered  in  drawing  from  earth 
her  store  of  wealth.  The  farmer  of  the  West  is 
a  very  king  among  men!"  he  said,  proudly. 

Now  Hetty  took  no  more  delight  in  wildly  pic- 
turesque views  than  did  her  companion  ;  but  she 
had  imagination  and  elegance  of  language  suf- 
ficient to  draw  a  fine  picture  when  she  wished  to 
make  it  serve  a  turn  in  the  conversation,  as  at 
present ;  or,  when  she  wished  for  effect,  to  assume 
the  romantic. 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  the  min- 
eral stores  are  almost  inexhaustible;  and  yet  they 


HENRIETTA.  83 

have  recent!}'  made  heavy  draughts  upon  them. 
It  is  very  different  now  to  what  it  was  a  few  gen- 
erations ago.  Then  our  people  knew  little  or 
nothing  about  mining,  or  tempering  metal,  and  so 
had  to  call  upon  Europe  for  help.  The  English 
came  principally  in  response  with  their  knowlege, 
so  that  the  shafts  went  down,  and  the  furnaces 
•went  up,  in  true  English  style." 

"Then  I  suppose  there  are  a  good  many  of  those 
people  out  there.  I  like  the  English  quite  well, 
but  not  well  enough  to  ape  their  manners,  as  do 
some  of  our  Americans.  I,  myself,  can  tell  of 
some  of  Albion's  blood  in  my  veins,  but  there  is 
fully  as  much  of  Scotch  about  me." 

"Yes,  and  I,  too,  have  a  good  deal  of  that  kind 
of  lineage  among  my  ancestors,  but  I  suppose  it 
is  just  as  well  for  us  Yankee  folks,  as  the  foreign- 
ers call  us,  indiscriminately,  to  forget  our  descent 
and  remember  ourselves  as  Americans  only." 

"You  are  a  patriot,  my  dear  ;"  and  he  \vould  like 
to  have  said  that,  in  the  time  to  come,  he  hoped  to 
be  able  to  visit  her  home  and  friends  on  the 
strength  of  his  tender  relations  with  herself ;  but 
he  left  the  thought  unvoiced,  because,  he  mused, 
that  perhaps  their  engagement  was  too  recent  to 
allow  of  him  speaking  in  a  way  so  familiar. 

Their  \valk  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  brought  them 
among  the  rest  of  the  party,  where  dinner  was 
spread,  pic-nic  fashion,  upon  cloths  on  the  ground. 

"By  Jupiter,"  said  Major  Stewart,  as  he  and 
Lennox  reclined  upon  the  grass  to  enjoy  an  after 
dinner  cigar,  "what  a  fine  woman  that  Miss  Dud- 


84  HENRIETTA. 

ley  is,  a  modern  Cleopatra,  or  a  Helen,  I  should 
say!" 

"Neither,"  answered  Lennox. 

He  spoke  rather  shortly.  He  did  not  like  the 
comparison  at  all. 

"  She  is  more  of  a  Zenobia,  or  a  Judith,  fair  to 
look  upon,  yet  filled  with  all  virtue  and  -wisdom." 

The  Major  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Ah,  I  see,"  he  said,  "you  are  smitten  with  this 
paragon,  as  I  have  already  heard,  but  why  did  you 
make  a  shift  from  the  gentle  little  girl  with  the 
artistic  taste?  I  thought  that  you  were  engaged 
to  her." 

Lennox  colored  slightly.  He  was  annoyed  at 
his  talk,  and  did  not  like  this  allusion  to  his  for- 
mer attentions  to  Klclie. 

"  Not  quite  so  far  as  that.  I  only  thought  of  her 
in  a  brotherly  sort  of  way.  Her  style  hardly  suits 
my  fancy.  She  is  too  sensitive,  too  retiring,  too 
much  of  a  dreamer,  too  much — as  we  are  making 
comparisons — of  an  Andromache,  or  a  Cassandria, 
M.\  ideal  of  a  woman  is  for  one  with  more  dash 
and  spirit  about  her." 

"Well,  then,  I  think  you  have  found  your  ideal 
in  yon  queenly  form  ;  but  mind  you,  boy,  that 
she  don't  give  you  cause  for  jealousy,  if  you 
should  unite  your  fortunes.  I  am  older  than  you, 
and  have  seen  more  of  the  world,  and  sometimes 
women  of  that  sort  play  the  very  mischief  with 
men's  hearts." 

Lennox  arose  and  sauntered  off  to  where  Eldie 
was  seated  on  a  knoll,  dreamilv  watchiner  the 


HENRIETTA.  85 

autumn  clouds,  as  they  drifted  across  the  heav- 
ens. 

She  was  always  looking  for  cloud-glories,  when 
free  from  easel  and  brush.  It  was  a  most  pleas- 
ing recreation  for  her,  and  to  this  habit  was  due 
the  exquisite  skies  which  attracted  the  attention 
of  every  one  who  looked  upon  her  pictures. 

They  spoke  together  of  the  beauty  of  the  day,  of 
the  charms  of  the  landscape,  and  he  asked  her  all 
about  her  art  prospects,  and  whether  she  would 
not  like  to  go  abroad  to  complete  her  studies. 

"Of  course,"  she  said,  "I  should  like  to  go  ;  but 
you  know  that  Uncle,  with  nothing  but  his  day's 
work  to  depend  upon,  cannot  send  me,  and  it 
takes  all  that  I  earn,  past  my  own  expenses,  to 
clothe  Camille  and  keep  her  at  school." 

"  Yes,  poor  little  Camille." 

"You  are  a  good  girl,  Kldie,  and  I  hope  that 
heaven  will  reward  you  and  make  your  life  a 
pleasant  one.  Here  comes  John,  and  I  suppose  I 
must  resign  your  company." 

He  noticed,  before  he  left,  that  the  pale  face, 
with  its  fine-cut  features,  looked  a  trifle  more  wan 
than  usual;  but  he  little  knew  of  the  painful 
struggle  in  the  girl's  heart,  as  she  looked  after 
his  retreating  form,  and  thought,  within  herself, 
how  much  dearer  his  society  was  to  her  than  that 
of  poor,  plain  John  ever  could  be." 

John  was  a  mere  toleration,  that  was  all. 

She  believed  that  he  loved  her.  Lennox  was 
irrecoverably  gone  into  the  keeping  of  the  eclips- 
ing siren  -who  had  come  between  them,  and  so 


86  HENRIETTA. 

she  allowed  the  tide  of  events  to  take  their  own 
course,  and  permitted  the  young  farmer's  atten- 
tions. 

Lennox,  as  he  wandered  back  to  the  group 
\vhere  Hetty  was,  ruminated  upon  the  words  of 
Major  Stewart. 

He  did  not  like  to  have  the  \voman  to  whom  he 
had  been  so  recently  engaged  spoken  of  in  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  spoken. 

It  seemed  that  the  major's  opinion  of  her  dif- 
fered quite  a  good  deal  from  his  own.  "  But  what 
of  that?"  he  asked  himself.  "What  did  it  matter 
as  to  the  opinion  of  an  old  fogy  like  Stewart?" 

No  beautiful  woman  would  hardly  favor  him 
with  her  love,  even  though  Hetty's  plain-faced 
cousin  had  accepted  him  as  a  suitor. 

Toward  evening,  irregular  drifts  of  cloud  began 
to  form  along  the  eastern  horizon,  and  beyond  the 
green  serrated  line  of  bluffs  to  the  westward  the 
sky  was  heavy  and  dark. 

The  wind  began  to  surge  through  the  trees 
with  a  hollow  moan,  to  curve  and  purple  the 
water  of  the  lake,  and  to  run  swiftly  across  the 
rowan  of  strath  and  meadow  in  undulating  waves 
of  light  and  shadow. 

"  I  think  we  shall  have  a  storm,"  said  weather- 
wise  John,  looking  westward.  "  Those  clouds 
have  a  threatening  look,  back  of  all  their  splen- 
dor," for  the  sun  at  that  moment  threw  a  coloring 
of  rose  and  amber  over  their  faces. 

Accordingly  a  return  home  was  at  once  proposed. 

They  were  too  late,  however. 


HENRIETTA.  87 

The  rain  came  pouring  down  upon  them  just  as 
they  reached  the  Jaax  hovel,  and  into  it  they 
rushed,  pell-mell,  not  waiting  for  the  formality  of 
an  invitation. 

The  owner  and  his  two  sons  \vere  out  looking 
after  the  cattle,  but  his  wife,  miserable,  wrinkled 
and  haggard,  was  within,  and  with  the  assistance 
of  three  unkempt  girls,  was  preparing  the  evening 
meal. 

Unpleasant  was  the  odor  from  the  adjoining 
stable,  made  more  strong  at  present  by  the  smell 
of  fried  onions  and  stale  cheese  as  it  assailed  the 
nostrils. 

As  to  the  condition  of  the  house,  it  was,  as  young 
Orme  afterward  said,  "just  too  horrible!  Why,  I 
had  to  close  my  eyes  on  it  all." 

But  he  did  not  close  his  eyes,  that  was  a 
white  lie,  for,  on  the  contrary,  he  examined  it 
closely. 

"This,"  he  thought,  "  is  the  home  of  the  moneyed 
old  wretch  who  thinks  he  can  lord  it  over  good 
and  respectable  Clipper.  O,  the  old  curmudgeon! 
Just  look  at  his  filth}7-  and  ignorant  family!  What 
good  can  money  b.e  to  such  people  ?  Nothing, 
onl3r  that  they  may  bear  the  name  of  having  it, 
and  to  boast  over  their  betters." 

The  boy  disliked  the  old  German  quite  as  much 
as  did  his  friend  of  the  rod  and  line. 

The  rain  was  most  heavy  and  the  peals  of  thun- 
der terrific. 

Its  effects  were  quite  different  upon  the  several 
members  of  the  party. 


88  HENRIETTA. 

Eldie  could  not  look  at  the  play  of  the  lightning 
without  a  nervous  tremor  taking  possession  of 
her,  -while  the  roar  of  the  thunder  she  did  not 
mind.  She  sat,  therefore,  with  eyes  closely  veiled. 

Agnes  Flemming  enjoyed  the  electric  flash,  but 
could  not  listen  to  its  noise  as  it  tore  its  way  back 
to  the  clouds,  so  stuffed  up  both  ears  with  the 
corners  of  her  handkerchief. 

Both  Lennox  and  Hetty  were  indifferent. 

They  did  not  care  to  get  wet,  that  was  all. 

The  other  part  of  the  storm  had  neither  joy  nor 
terror  for  them,  but  several  others,  among  them 
Orme,  thought  it  all  magnificiently  grand. 

Jaax  could  be  heard  plainly  through  the  thin 
partition,  stamping  and  swearing  at  the  horses 
and  cows,  which  he  had  driven  to  cover,  and — as 
a  contrast — to  his  most  pious  Catholic  wife,  who 
•was  continually  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  as 
she  muttered  a  prayer. 

All  Christians  might  do  likewise,  and  in  times 
of  danger  symbolize  that  in  which  they  all  believe. 

The  storm  at  length  abated  so  that  they  were  all 
able  to  get  home  before  the  darkness  of  night 
settled  over  them,  and  they  cquld  not  say  other- 
wise. Then,  that  the  day  had  been  a  most  enjoy- 
able one  to  all  concerned,  and  especially  to  one,  at 
least,  of  the  engaged  lovers. 

Early  the  next  morning  Hetty  and  her  cousin 
Sarah,  were  seen  by  young  Orme  to  come  from 
the  picnic  grounds  where  they  had  been  to  look 
for  a  lost  ribbon  belonging  to  Hetty — so  she  told 
her  companion — but  this  was  an  evasion,  as  what 


HENRIETTA.  89 

she  really  looked  for  was  something  quite  different, 
and  did  not  become  known  until  after  the  ermine 
coat  of  winter  had  \vrapped  tree  and  bush  in  its 
soft  fold  for  the  second  time  since  the  occurrence. 


90  HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  hall  of  the  T—  -  society  was  never  more 
elaborately  adorned  than  upon  the  occasion  of  the 
fourth  annual  ball,  given  under  its  auspices,  dur- 
ing the  holiday  week  of  the  year  18 — .  Many  of 
the  city's  elite  were  in  attendance,  for  the  society 
was  in  a  most  flourishing  condition,  both  socially 
and  financially,  composed,  as  it  was,  of  the  most 
substantial  men  to  be  found. 

Fashion  and  gaiety,  beauty  and  wit,  had  met 
and  joined  hands  in  the  endeavor  to  make  as 
much  of  an  elysium  of  happiness  as  it  is  possible 
to  measure  in  this  mundane  sphere. 

The  great  room  was  one  blaze  of  starry  bril- 
liancy, emitted  from  its  electric  lights,  its  atmos- 
phere, mingled  with  the  delicate  odor  of  green- 
house and  forest  from  the  festoons  of  flower  and 
evergreen,  while  over  and  among  the  infinitesi- 
mal -waves  of  light  and  of  perfume,  swelled  the 
notes  of  the  best  orchestra. 

"I  say,  Leonard,"  said  a  tall,  thin  young  man 
\vith  a  languid  air  and  an  incipient  mustache 
shading  his  lip,  "have  you  noticed  Lennox  and 
the  fine-looking  girl  he  had  with  him?" 

"  Yes,  I  noticed  them  when  they  first  came  into  the 
room,  but  the  crowd  gathered  about  them  was  so 
great  that  I  could  not  get  a  fair  look  at  her.  Wil- 


HENRIETTA.  91 

bur,  who  has  had  an  introduction,  says  she  is 
grand.  None  of  your  optical  deceptions,  with 
beauty  in  the  distance,  but  plainness  on  a  close  in- 
spection. There  she  is  facing  us  now,"  and  down 
went  his  hand  to  his  lorgnette,  and  up  it  was 
brought  to  his  eye,  and  a  prolonged  stare  at  the 
object  of  conversation  -was  indulged  in. 

"Ah,  she  is  handsome  and  no  mistake.  A  lucky 
fellow,  that  Lennox  seems  to  be.  I  wonder  where 
he  managed  to  pick  up  so  fine  a  prize?" 

"Can't  say;  but  this  much  I  can  tell  you,  that 
when  she  first  encountered  my  vision,  -with  the 
full  battery  of  her  charms,  I  was  quite  shaken  in 
my  notions  a-la-Darwin.  How  could  it  be  possi- 
ble, thought  I,  for  so  magnificient  a  creature  to 
evolve  from  a  protozoa,  even  through  gradations 
and  eons  endless." 

"You  have  my  concordance  there.  Even  the 
material  part  of  the  human  is  an  unsurmountable 
block  set  against  the  theory.  How  much  more  of 
a  barrier  than  must  be  the  mind  and  soul  of  which 
the  body  is  but  the  frame,  which,  grand  though 
it  may  be,  yet  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  gem 
which  it  encases.  I  never  did  believe  in  Darwin'^ 
strange  teaching.  It  may — for  a  time — sway  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  mankind,  but  they  will  eventually 
fall  back  on  the  account  of  creation  as  found  in  the 
book  of  -  — .  Here,  take  my  glass,  as  I  see  you 
have  none  along  with  you,  and  view  this  newly 
risen  planet  to  your  heart's  content.  I  am  an  older 
man  than  you,  and,  as  a  married  one,  take  little 
interest  in  the  fair  sex  outside  of  my  own  family." 


92  HENRIETTA. 

"Oh,  you  don't  eh;  well,  I  do  take  a  great  deal  of 
interest  in  all  of  them,  and  especially  in  yonder 
one.  I  vow  she  is  the  most  beautiful  \voman  that 
I  have  ever  seen,  and  how  proud  that  Lennox 
seems  to  be  of  her.  By  the  way,  do  you  know  how 
he  manages  to  get  money  enough  to  keep  up  his 
style  of  living?" 

"No,  I  can  give  you  no  information  on  that 
point." 

"I  have  heard  a  good  many  comments  lately 
among  his  acquaintances  in  regard  to  the  matter. 
It  is  considered  odd  how  he  can  get  on  without 
any  visible  means  of  support,  as  it  is  well  known 
that  he  earns  nothing,  having  no  trade  or  profes- 
sion." 

"I  think,"  said  his  companion,  "that,  as  he  is 
the  only  son  of  his  widowed  mother,  that  her 
gratuity,  in  all  likelihood,  is  his  support." 

"Pshaw,  that's  not  so.  I  know  all  about  his 
mother.  She  does  own  a  farm  of  a  small  size  just 
outside  the  city  limits,  and  a  fine  country  resi- 
dence upon  it.  But  what- of  that?  She  rents  the 
farm  at  a  thousand  a  year,  which  is  all  of  the  in- 
come that  she  has,  and  after  living  expenses  are 
deducted  for  themselves  and  servants,  there  can- 
not be  much  left  for  Charlie." 

"Well,  it  is  a  mystery  how  some  people  do  live, 
as  one  may  think,  upon  any  fine  day  in  any  of  our 
great  cities,  if  he  but  watch  the  surging  mass  of 
humanity,  passing  up  and  down,  or  standing  in 
groups,  as  the}7  may  list ;  all  of  them  to  get  a  sub- 
sistance  out  of  the  hard  bosom  of  old  earth.  I  say, 


HENRIETTA.  93 

it  is  wonderful  to  think  about.  Here,  this  peculiar 
man  who,  more  from  incidental  causes  than  any 
inclination  on  his  part,  had  been  brought  into  this 
gay  assemblage,  went  off  into  a  moralizing  revery 
in  which  social-economy  and  the  future  of  the 
masses  formed  a  prominent  part. 

His  young  friend  filed  off  in  the  direction  of  the 
magnetic  star,  whose  bright  ray  had  already  made 
her  the  cynosure. 

It  was  with  difficulty  that  }Toung  Hobart,  as  he 
•was  called,  could  obtain  an  introduction,  but  when 
he  did,  he  made  up  for  the  enforced  delay  which 
he  had  undergone  by  one  bold  dash,  in  \vhich  he 
asked  for  the  honor  of  her  hand  in  the  next  quad- 
rille ;  but  Hetty  had  her  card  written  with  a  half 
dozen  names  already,  so  that,  with  chagrin,  the 
young  man  was  compelled  to  place  his  so  far  down 
on  the  list  that  he  feared  the  affair  \vould  be  over 
before  his  turn  came. 

He  was  as  much  affected  by  her  loveliness  as 
had  been  her  affianced  husband,  at  first  sight ;  so 
Avere  a  half-score  of  others,  who  kept  dangling 
about  her. 

He  thought,  as  he  stroked  his  downy  mustache, 
and  gazed  after  her  willowy  form  as  she  grace- 
fully swayed  through  the  delightful  mazes  of 
Strauss  and  of  Offenbach,  that  he  \vould  be  will- 
ing to  give  the  whole  of  his  clerkly  salary,  of 
five  hundred  dollars  per  year,  and  himself  thrown 
into  the  bargain,  to  be  able  to  call  her  his  own. 

Not  a  great  deal  of  difference;  between  the  mar- 
gin he  had  supposed  for  the  support  of  Lennox 


94  HENRIETTA. 

and  that  of  himself,  from  their  respective  incomes. 
But,  perhaps,  he  did  not  consider  his  manner  of 
living  as  being  in  style ;  or,  perhaps,  he  did  not 
think  of  himself  at  all,  and  only  \vished  to  bring 
forward  the  disagreeable  comments  he  had  heard, 
as  a  means  of  displaying  a  bit  of  jealous  spite 
toward  his  handsome  and  manly  rival,  who 
seemed  to  be  so  much  in  possession  of  this  new 
beauty. 

He  emplo37ed  his  time  in  dancing  with  some  of 
the  less  favored  of  the  sex  and,  indeed,  became 
quite  engaged  with  a  bit  of  a  brunette,  whose  feet 
seemed  formed  to  follow  the  terpsichorian  god, 
so  lightly  did  they  trip  over  the  floor. 

At  last  his  turn  came  to  dance  with  Hetty.  It 
was  one  of  Wagner's  soul-entrancing  waltzes,  and 
Hobert  thought  that  the  eden  of  the  blessed  could 
not  surpass  the  joy  which  lighted  up  his  breast, 
as  the  fair  form  of  his  charmer  rested  lightly  in 
his  arms  ;  her  sea-green  dress  of  silk,  with  its 
simple  trimmings  of  white  lisse,  giving  her  the 
look  of  some  nymph  from  fairyland. 

Lennox  was  out  of  his  usual  flow  of  spirits  to- 
night. He  could  scarcely  say  why ;  it  might  be 
caused  by  that  mysterious  shadow  which  some- 
times comes  over  us  before  the  approach  of  evil ; 
or,  it  might  be,  because  of  the  great  admiration 
•which  his  future  wife  excited  in  the  eyes  of  his 
own  sex. 

Most  certainly  he  was  proud  of  his  fiancee,  and 
liked  to  have  her  well  thought  of,  but  he  hardly 
cared  to  have  so  much  of  a  buzz  around  the  woman 


HENRIETTA.  95 

he  would,  some  day,  call  by  the  sacred  name  of 
"wife. 

Why,  he  asked  himself,  could  not  a  fair  woman 
devise  some  means  to  keep  men  at  a  distance, 
especially  those  who  had  no  claim  upon  her 
friendship. 

He  might  have  been  answered,  that  in  most 
cases  of  the  kind,  they  simply  do  not  'wish  to  keep 
them  off.  Too  much  of  vanity  in  their  dear  hearts 
for  that ;  and,  perhaps,  the  opposite  sex  would  be 
just  as  vain  had  they  the  chance.  They,  however, 
do  not  have  it.  Women,  as  a  rule,  whatever  their 
f  ailings  may  be,  are  not  fools  enough  to  gather 
about  a  man  merely  because  he  is  handsome. 
They  will,  though,  wily  diplomats  that  they 
are,  be  borne  toward  him  by  the  metallic  attrac- 
tion of  a  golden  pocket,  be  he  as  the  ancient 
Poctolus. 

Lennox  consoled  himself,  though,  by  the  thought 
that  Hetty  would,  in  all  likelihood,  put  a  stop  to 
any  undue  notice  from  others  immediately  she 
became  a  matron,  as  he  had  known  some  fair  ones 
of  his  acquaintance  to  have  done. 

If  he  felt  depressed  while  in  the  ball  room,  he 
was  actually  annoyed  when  he  reached  the  cor- 
ridor, \vhere  he  handed  his  partner  into  the  dress- 
ing room,  after  the  dismissal  of  the  dancers. 

A  note  had  been  thrust  into  his  hand  a  moment 
before,  and  this  was  its  contents: 

CHARivEs  LENNOX: 

Call  at  the  office  as  soon  as  possible,  on  to-morrow, 
December  the  27th,  as  a  most  distressing  case  of  suicide 


96  HENRIETTA. 

has  occurred,  of  one  of  our  mortgagees,  and  a  legal  in- 
vestigation as  to  our  business  methods  may  follow. 

Yours, 

AGXEW  &  Co. 

Hetty,  just  then  coming  forward,  equipped  in 
her  wraps  for  the  street,  he  hastily  crammed  it  in 
his  pocket,  and  gave  her  his  arm,  and  as  they 
stepped  onto  the  stair  landing,  there,  as  if  waiting 
for  some  one,  stood  the  same  dark-eyed,  beetle- 
browed  man  who  had  met  them  in  the  forest  as  a 
hunter. 

This  time  he  made  no  sign  of  recognition,  but 
Lennox  noticed  that  his  eyes  followed  them  as 
they  passed  out  unto  the  lighted  pavement,  and 
toward  the  sleigh  which  awaited  their  attendance. 
They  found,  upon  meeting  the  outside  air,  that  it 
had  grown  colder  and  was  snowing  furiously,  but 
that  they  need  not  to  mind  as  they  were  wrapped 
in  the  most  comfortable  of  furs,  the  sleigh  luxu- 
rious and  the  horses  of  the  swiftest ;  for,  as  the 
youth  with  the  incipient  mustache  had  said,  its 
proprietor  had  everything  in  the  most  elaborate 
style,  and  people  wondered. 

They  did  not  know  that  the  sum  of  two  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  an  uncle  had  kindly  given  at 
his  valedictory,  for  he  was  of  the  alumni,  had  only 
been  one-half  expended  for  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  intended — the  reading  of  law — as  its  recip- 
ient had  dealt  very  economically  with  it,  during 
the  two  years  of  his  studies. 

At  the  end  of  these  two  years,  his  patron,  him- 
self a  lawyer,  and  others  of  the  legal  craft,  thought 


HENRIETTA.  97 

so  well  of  his  abilities  that  he  was  induced,  after 
due  admittance  to  the  bar,  to  undertake  a  case  of 
of  his  own. 

He  met  with  a  failure  so  complete  that  it  entirely 
discouraged  him  from  ever  attaining  anything  in 
that  direction,  and  looked  upon  the  years  spent  in 
the  acquirement  as  so  much  time  thrown  away. 
For  awhile  he  drifted  with  no  income  but  \vhat 
little  his  mother  could  spare  him. 

Then  a  fortunate  thing  came  to  him,  if  fortunate 
that  may  be  called  which  enables  one  man,  or  a 
set  of  men,  to  see  a  good  time  in  life  at  the  ex- 
pense, sometimes  the  life  blood,  of  others. 

An  exceedingly  lucrative  business  was  about  to 
be  opened  in  the  city  by  a  firm  \vhose  members 
\vished  him  to  add  his  name  to  the  list  along  with 
his  thousand  dollars,  which  he  had  prudently  held 
in  reserve. 

It  was  a  broker's  establishment,  where  money 
was  loaned  at  a  percentage  so  enormous  that  or- 
dinary usury  was  to  it  no  comparison. 

Of  course,  a  sum  of  money  \vell  managed  in  this 
way  brought  a  handsome  profit  to  its  owner, 
sometimes  from  the  well-to-do  man  of  business, 
who  sought  to  relieve  himself  in  a  pinch,  as  the 
saying  goes,  but  more  frequently  from  the  unfor- 
tunate laborer,  whom  either  sickness  or  want  of 
employment  had  driven  to  the  extreme  of  mort- 
gaging his  little  all,  that  bread  might  be  obtained 
for  himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him,  and  to 
save  them  from  the  humiliation  of  public  assist- 
ance, or  of  private  charity. 


98  HENRIETTA. 

Lennox  was  induced  to  join  \vith  them,  and  from 
that  time  he  had  plenty  of  means  at  his  command, 
and  that,  too,  with  but  little  bother  on  his  part,  as 
he  was  not  among  its  working  members,  so  knew 
but  little  of  their  business  methods,  and  cared 
less,  so  long  as  his  returns  came  in  all  right  and 
his  principal  was  safe. 

It  is  due  to  the  credit  of  Lennox  to  sa}7  that 
had  he  known  fully  the  high-handed  means  often 
employed  by  these  men  to  bring  their  victims  to 
time,  he  would  at  once  have  withdrawn  from  so 
nefarious  a  way  of  getting  a  living,  as  there  was 
really  nothing  dishonest  in  his  make-up. 

This  was  the  first  disagreeable  incident  which 
had  come  to  his  notice  in  connection  \vith 
the  firm,  and  the  fact  that  it  had  been  made 
to  come  before  him,  together  with  the  tone 
of  the  note,  gave  him  to  understand  that  the 
circumstances  boded  no  good  to  himself  and  his 
partners. 

Peter,  his  mother's  man-of-all-work,  was  some- 
what out  of  sorts  at  the  cold  time  he  had  experi- 
enced while  wating  about  the  stable  for  the  ball 
to  close,  so  gave  but  curt  answers  to  all  interrogi- 
tories  in  regard  to  his  opinion  of  the  roads,  and 
whether  he  anticipated  trouble  in  getting  through 
the  drifts  at  so  late  an  hour. 

No  matter,  as  to  his  thoughts,  favorable  or  un- 
favorable, the  strong  horses  stopped  at  nothing 
until  they  were  safe  at  the  Desmond  door. 

Lennox  remarked  to  his  companion  the  fact 
that  a  light  was  burning  in  the  Jantieaux  cottage 


HENRIETTA.  99 

as  they  passed,  and  wondered  what  they  could  be 
doing  up  so  late. 

He  did  not  know  that  Kldie  was  so  ill  that  her 
aunt  was  under  the  necessity  of  giving  her  night- 
ly attendance,  but  such  was  the  case. 

The  almost  incessant  labor  to  which  she  was 
subject,  either  in  earning  means  of  support,  or  in 
assisting  about  the  household  duties,  was  begin- 
ning to  tell  on  a  constitution  naturally  delicate; 
and  who  can  say  as  to  whether  the  vulgar  tales  of 
idle  gossip  may  not  have  had  its  share  in  a  secret 
undermining  of  the  life  organs?" 

There  are  natures  of  so  fine  an  organization  that 
no  disturbing  influence  can  be  at  work  without 
their  knowledge. 

They  are  made  aware  of  it  without  external 
communication,  and  the  more  the}7  are  possessed 
of  this  tender  sensibility,  the  greater  are  their  suf- 
ferings, and  the  least  capable  are  they  of  the  re- 
sistance to  their  tormentors. 

Murder  may  be  committed  in  different  ways. 

The  hand  of  the  assassin  may  deal  the  blow 
openly,  or  it  may  be  by  more  secret  methods,  among 
them  that  one  of  detraction,  with  the  difference, 
only,  that  one  alone  may  be  instrumental  in  the 
first,  but  in  the  second  many  are  apt  to  partake. 

The  next  day,  at  the  appointed  time,  Lennox 
appeared  at  the  office. 

There  was  some  little  excitement  among  the 
number,  \vhich  had  been  brought  together  by  a 
like  appeal,  but  not  enough  to  give  an  appearance 
of  alarm. 


100  HENRIETTA. 

"And  so,"  said  a  burly  looking  man,  \vith  a 
coarse,  loud  voice,  "one  of  our  miserable  clients 
has  seen  fit  to  shuffle  off  his  carcass  by  undoing 
the  strings  with  his  own  hands,  preferring,  it 
would  seem,  a  flight  into  more  airy  regions  than 
to  longer  meet  life's  sorrows.  I  don't  much  blame 
him,  neither.  A  man  with  only  one  leg  is  but  half 
a  man,  at  best,  and  when  poverty  goes  along,  why 
life  must  simply  be  intolerable.  But  are  we  re- 
sponsible for  his  rash  act?" 

"I  tiiiks  dot  we  are  not,"  said  a  son  of  Abraham, 
with  a  hook  nose  and  a  pair  of  carnation  cheeks. 
"Ve  offers  our  money  an  de  beebles  take  dere 
choice." 

"It  is  not  our  fault  dey  see  fit  to  borrow  at  our 
price.  A  suicide  is  von  damned  man  any  ways. 
I  no  feels  peety  for  de  suicide." 

"  Neither  do  I,"  said  a  squeaky  voiced  little  man, 
"but  I  am  afraid  this  affair  may  create  a  rumpus 
in  our  business,  and,  perhaps,  trouble  for  all  of  us. 
I  am  sure  that  I  don't  know  much  about  the  law, 
but  I  have  my  suspicions  that  an  investigation 
may  be  able  to  prove  us  liable  to  punishment." 

"The  law  be  damned,"  said  the  first  speaker, 
with  a  fierce,  lion-like  expression.  "  The  law? 
Why,  what  is  the  law?  Our  method  of  dealing 
may  be  a  little  crooked,  but  it  is  no  more  unjust 
than  lots,  done  under  the  full  approval  of  the  code 
which  \ve  have  brought  with  us  from  a  land 
•whose  form  of  government  we  have  thrown  off; 
and  the}7,  in  turn,  got  it  from  the  judicial  bias  of 
an  old  churchman,  who  lived,  I  can't  say  how 


HENRIETTA.  101 

many  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago.  He  got 
his  inspiration  from  the  laws  of  Moses,  mingled,  as 
it  is,  with  Egyptian  superstitions.  A  fine  system 
to  obey,  truly,  in  this  age  of  so-called  enlighten- 
ment. It  seems  as  though  our  legal  minds  are 
not  possessed  of  sufficient  force  to  throw  off  the 
trammels  of  ancient  heathendom  and  form  a  set 
of  laws  more  in  consistency  with  the  Christian 
doctrine.  Let  them  advance  if  they  want  better 
morals." 

"I  have  no  fears,"  said  an  extremely  tall  man,  as 
he  looked  over  the  heads  of  the  rest. 

"They  who  borrow  of  us  are  glad  to  get  the 
money  at  any  cost,  and  look  upon  us  as  benefactors, 
no  doubt.  The  widow  of  this  suicide  \vill  scarcely 
say  anything  about  the  matter,  so  far  as  a  thought 
of  investigation  goes  ;  as,  being  a  foreigner,  she 
knows  nothing  of  the  customs  here,  and  outsiders 
are  not  going  to  interfere  with  that  which  does  not 
concern  them." 

"I  don't  see  that  we  are  doing  any  crime,"  said 
the  first  speaker,  "  especially  when,  as  it  stands  in 
our  fine  civilization,  as  a  motto:  'Every  one  for 
himself  and  the  devil  take  the  hindermost.'  At  any 
rate,  though,  should  an}rthing  be  mentioned  in  a 
troublesome  way,  remember,  all  of  you,  and  keep 
a  cautious  tongue.  Be  regular  know-nothings, 
and  to  hear  this  little  bit  of  advice  is  all  that  you 
were  called  here  for  this  morning." 

"If  any  here  see  fit  to  visit  the  wretched  widow 
and  her  family,  with  the  object  of  offering  to  them 
pecuniary  assistance,  why,  of  course,  they  are  at 


102  HENRIETTA. 

liberty  to  do  so — individual  help,  I  mean.  As  for 
my  part,  I  shall  not  interfere.  The  household 
goods  \vere  seized  and  sold,  according  to  due  pro- 
cess several  days  ago,  and  I  suppose  they  are 
badly  enough  off.  But  it  is  not  my  fault." 

Among  all  of  the  group  there  was  but  one  man 
who  was  sufficiently  moved  by  the  sad  tale  to  take 
upon  himself  a  visit  to  the  abode  of  misery  and 
death. 

That  was  Lennox. 

He  received  from  the  speaker  the  street  and 
number  of  a  house  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city, 
and  to  it  he  went. 

He  was  prepared  for  a  scene  of  destitution,  but 
hardly  so  much  of  suffering  and  sorrow  as  was 
presented  to  his  view,  when  he  entered  a  room  on 
the  second  floor  and  saw  the  family  of  Walter 
Bain. 

The  place  was  destitute  of  everything  in    the 
way  of  furniture,  except  an  old  cracked  stove,  in 
•which  a  poor  fire  dwindled;  four  old  chairs,  two  o 
which  served  as  supports  for  the  pine  board  up- 
on which  lay  the  remains  of  the  dead. 

The  man  was  young  yet,  not  over  thirty,  with 
the  strong,  rugged  features  and  firm  looks  which 
mark  the  Scottish  highlander. 

The  woman  answered  to  the  explanation  that 
his  visit  was  one  of  sympathy,  by  a  flood  of  tears, 
and  then  the  peculiar  modulations  of  her  native 
Doric  fell  upon  his  ear. 

"Oh!  the  grief  of  me,  sir,  I  could  never  tell  it  ye  ! 
I  could  never  begin  to  tell  it  ye  !  Oh  !  sir,  if  we 


HENRIETTA.  103 

were  but  back  to  our  old  home  beyont  Inverness! 
Why  uver  did  we  want  to  leave  it,  when  we 
were  so  well-to-do  in  out  bit  of  a  sheeling,  even  if 
our  eatin  was  but  the  oat-meal  cake  an  the  garden 
kail,  and  the  mulk  !" 

"  But  it  was  all  for  the  learnin  to  be  gotten  here 
for  the  bairns,  ye  see." 

"Come  lass,"  he  used  to  say,  "let's  be  off,  till  the 
great  land  across  the  sea,  where  the  advantages 
are  better  than  here,  where  puir  bodies  like  our- 
sels  has  to  get  what  knowledge  they  hae  of  books 
all  at  night  after  a  hard  day's  work,  and  his 
practice  in  figures  by  cipherin  on  the  clay  of  the 
floor." 

"In  that  grand  land  all  are  equal,  I  am  told,  an 
there  are  no  landlords  an  bailiffs  to  press,  the  life 
out  of  ye  as  they  do  here." 

"An  so  we  crossed  the  wild  water,  Walter,  the 
four  bairns  and  meself,  an  Oh !  sir,  would  ye 
believe  it?  the  great  country,  so  much  praised  at 
home,  has  given  crueler  luck  an  treatment  than 
we  ever  knew  there,  hard  and  rocky  though  the 
hillsides  be." 

"We  were  here  but  a  year  an  a  month,  when  my 
poor  Watty,  dead  now,  was  run  down  by  a  train  at 
the  crossin'  on  a  dark  night  an  the  leg  taken  off 
him!" 

"What  could  I  do  then,  but  to  spend  what  little 
savin's  we  had  to  keep  him  comfortable  ?" 

"  It  was  soon  done." 

"I  left  him  to  the  care  of  the  bairns  and  went 
out  to  wash  by  the  day,  for,  sez  I  to  mesel,  I'll  be 


101  HENRIETTA. 

a  true  Scotchwoman  and  ask  help  from  no  one,  not 
an  if  I  \vork  me  hans  till  the  bone ! " 

"But  I  fell  ill  of  care  an  overwork  thegither,  an 
the  bairns,  too,  God  bless  em,  took  a  fever  an  in  a 
short  time  I  was  left  with  three,  the  biggest  being 
laid  in  the  grave  yard,  and  times  came  on  so  hard 
that  I  was  driven  to  mortgage  our  bit  of  goods, 
some  of  them  valuable,  too,  sich  as  me  feather  beds 
and  blankets,  and  me  sheets  of  home-made  Scotch 
linen,  as  ye  canna  get  here  for  the  same  price. 
For,  we  reasoned  atween  us,  wi  the  help  of  God 
we  may  pull  through  an  the  mone}"  will  give 
us  our  present  needs,  although  it  seems  a 
desperate  thing  to  pay  fifteen  cents  a  month  on 
every  dollar  used,  until  we  can  pay  it  back 
again." 

"Well,  sir,  to  shorten  my  story,  we  did'iit  pull 
through,  as  I  could  not,  with  my  two  hands  alone, 
keep  the  enormous  interest  paid,  and  live,  and  so, 
according  to  the  binding,  our  things  were  taken 
from  us,  an  then,  as  if  my  sorrow  were  not  great 
enough,  upon  my  return  from  a  neighbor's  house 
on  the  next  day,  where  I  had  been  to  borrow  what 
little  furniture  you  see  here,  I  found  my  poor 
Watty  soaked  in  his  own  blude!" 

"  He  was  aff  i  the  mind,  I  an  vera  sure,  else  he 
could  never  hae  did  sic  an  a  deed,  and  no  \vonder, 
for  the  puir  body  was  a  wantin  for  the  victuals  he 
should  hae  had  till  gie  him  strength,  beside  our 
great  trouble." 

Grief  overcome  the  poor  woman,  and  throwing 
her  apron  over  her  head,  she  rocked  to  and  fro  on 


I/KXKIETTA.  105 

her  chair,  arid  sobbed  as  though  her  heart  would 
break  in  her  bitter  anguish. 

Lennox  was  deeply  affected. 

He  had  never  before  witnessed  a  scene  of  pover- 
ty and  desolation  anyway  approaching  to  this, 
and  was  appalled  to  know  that  a  thing  of  the 
sort  could  exist  outside  of  a  \vork  of  fiction. 

He  prudently,  for  his  own  sake,  said  nothing  of 
his  connection  with  the  loan  concern  to  the 
woman,  and  upon  his  departure  pressed  upon  her 
the  only  money  his  pocket  contained,  a  ten-dollar 
bill. 

"  I  shall  never  again  draw  a  cent  from  the  firm," 
was  his  mental  resolve,  as  he  regained  the  street; 
"not  if  I  have  to  take  pick  or  shovel  and  earn  my 
living  as  a  day  laborer.  Only  to  think  that  a  set 
of  men  should  be  having  a  good  and  easy  time 
in  life  at  the  expense  of  so  much  suffering  in 
others!  Why,  even  the  poor  children  look  old  and 
pinched  with  want!" 

He  kept  his  resolve,  too,  for  a  week  from  that 
day  he  dissolved  partnership,  received  his  invest- 
ed funds,  and  withdrew  with  the  secret  \vish  to 
see  in  a  short  time  all  institutions  of  the  sort 
abolished. 

Two  days  after  his  visit  an  inquest  was 
duly  held  and  a  decision  given  in  accordance  with 
the  facts  of  the  case. 

The  funeral  took  place  from  the  rooms  of  the 
Scottish  widow;  and,  011  the  way  to  the  place  of 
burial,  it  was  compelled  to  stop  at  a  crossing  of 
streets  while  another  cortege  passed  by. 


106  HENRIETTA. 

The  halt  was  a  long  one,  for  the  massive,  silver- 
clasped  casket,  under  its  pall  and  plumes  was 
followed  by  an  immense  procession  of  carriages, 
all  filled  with  friends  of  the  departed,  who  had 
come  to  offer  a  show  of  respect  for  the  dead,  and 
to  sympathize  \vith  the  relatives. 

He  was  a  rich  man  of  the  communit}^  conse- 
quently a  respected  man,  although  not  known  as 
a  Christian  or  a  person  of  much  benevolence. 

The  poor  laborer;  it  was  known  in  his  neighbor- 
hood, had  been,  before  his  mind  became  clouded 
by  despair,  a  most  devout  follower  of  the  divine 
word,  and  in  his  household  the  daily  chapter  and 
prayer  were  never  forgotten. 

The  great  man  had  never  prayed,  or,  if  he  did,  it 
was  in  the  words,  "O  Lord !  give  me  riches,  that  I 
may  live  at  ease  and  be  above  my  fellow  man !" 

Each  corpse  went  its  way,  the  one  to  the  fash- 
ionable cemetery,  where  the  rich  generally  find 
their  last  bed,  there  to  be  covered  by  a  costly 
mausoleum;  to  be  surrounded  by  emerald  lawns 
and  parterres  of  flowers ;  by  well-kept  walks  and 
shady  trees. 

The  other,  to  a  place  of  more  humble  preten- 
sions, where,  in  the  potter's  field,  it  will  rest  among 
the  other  poor  whose  friends  but  rarely  find  means 
to  mark  the  spot  of  their  burial  with  even  a  plain 
slab. 

No  \vonder  that  the  poor,  in  seeming,  neglect 
their  dead. 

What  do  they  gain  by  a  visit  to  their  humble 
mounds? 


HENRIETTA.  107 

Surely  not  consolation,  as  there  can  be  nothing 
but  sadness  come  to  them,  as  they  -witness  the 
contrast  between  the  smooth  and  ornamented 
mounds  about  them,  and  their  own  neglected  ones 
with  their  perennial  growth  of  weeds,  for  whose 
care  they  cannot  find  time  from  their  daily  toil, 
much  less  money  to  buy  a  head-stone. 

The  widow  Bain  did  not  cause  any  trouble  for 
the  loan  society,  and  they  were  left  to  still  seize 
upon  the  means  of  delinquent  borrowers,  and  to 
enjoy  their  badly  gotten  gains. 


108  HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  Ten  beats  wiz  ze  fingers,  now  strike  ze  knee,  ze 
elbow,  ze  forehead." 

"Repeat!  repeat!  repeat! 

At  each  of  the  three  last  words,  Madame 
Du  Boise  clapped  her  -withered  little  hands  and 
stamped  her  tiny  foot  vigorously. 

The  troupe  of  Italian  gipsies  jerked  and  flirted 
their  tambourines  like  so  many  fanciful  toys  ;  the 
\vild  rattling  notes  according  well  with  their  not 
ungraceful  movements  as  they  formed  into  line. 

First  came  the  males,  with  brown  pants  gaily 
striped  on  each  side  with  scarlet  or  yellow,  and 
fastened  at  the  waist  by  a  crimson  sash,  a  vest  of 
white,  and  tunic  of  drab  with  silver  spangles  ;  the 
whole  contrasting  finely  with  the  red  kerchief 
bound  gracefully  over  their  jetty  locks. 

Handsome,  stalwart  fellows  they  were,  with  a 
well  simulated  dash  of  the  brigand  about  them  ; 
and  their  little  commander  smiled  complacently 
at  her  success  in  the  way  of  her  selection  of  indi- 
viduals and  at  the  suitableness  of  their  dress,  as 
she  elevated  her  queer  parrot  nose  and  her  beady 
black  eyes  in  order  to  get  a  better  view  from  her 
dwarf  like  dimensions. 

She  was  not  so  well  pleased  with  the  females. 


HENRIETTA.  109 

She  liked,  well  enough,  their  scarlet,  black-bound 
skirts,  their  tidy  feet,  and  white  sleeved  chemise, 
with  gold  trimmed  bodices  of  black ;  but  their 
bonnets  offended  her,  and  no  \vonder. 

Whoever  has  seen,  elsewhere  in  the  world,  any- 
thing so  outre  and  ungraceful  as  that  \vorn  by 
the  peasantry  of  the  Spanish  and  Tuscan  penin- 
sulas, \vith  its  stiff,  oblong  head-piece  of  white, 
and  its  flowing  muslin  train  reaching  below  the 
waist. 

"Ze  contrast  ees  not  well  between  olive  and 
white,  I  zink." 

"Bah!  fools  zat  zay  are!" 

"  Vy  zay  no  vare  ze  red,  or  ze  color  de  rose." 

"  But  fashing,  fashing,  zat  is  ze  zing  everywhere, 
and  of  course  it  is  ze  zing  in  ma  belle  Italic." 

"Go  on,  you,  your  dark  faces  look  still  darker 
wiz  ze  white." 

They  marched  out  of  their  dressing  room  onto 
the  stage  with  a  regulation  swing  and  beat  of 
their  tambourines. 

The  proscenium  was  brilliantly  lighted,  but  in 
the  back-ground,  drapery  and  festoons  cast  a  deep 
shadow,  under  \vhich  clustered  tots  of  children, 
dressed  as  wood-nymphs  and  butterflies,  all  green 
and  golden. 

"For,"  says  the  Madame,  "peebles  want  somzing 
to  please  ze  eye  as  \vell  ze  fancy;  somzing  to  vary 
from  ze  common  life." 

"Zat  zay  see  all  time  ;  here  must  be  vat  is  dif- 
ferent." 

Per  sa Hum!  and  the  dance  has  begun. 


HO  HENRIETTA. 

The  queen  and  her  husband  take  the  lead  of  the 
untamed  band. 

How  they  whirl,  and  spring,  and  sway  in  true 
southern  style! 

How  the  music  swells  richly  from  the  tones  of 
piano,  clarionet  and  violincello! 

In  time  the  dance  is  over,  and  they  file  off  the 
stage  to  give  room  to  eight  courtly  personages  who 
represent  France  in  her  ancient  glory,  with  Mons- 
ieurs  queued  and  powdered,  their  coats  of  scar- 
let velvet  in  lace  of  gold,  resting  over  black  knee- 
breeches,  white  hose  and  buckled  shoes  ;  and  the 
Madames  no  less  jaunty,  in  satin  skirts  of  sable  and 
bodices  of  maroon,  with  trussed  and  puffed  trains, 
and  diamonds  sprinkled  over  their  heaped  up  hair. 

Their  high  pitched  shoes  clicked  with  their  hard 
heels  as  they  paced  through  the  stately  figures  of 
the  minuet,  and  then,  with  polite  gallantry,  each 
beau  conducts  his  lady  from  view. 

An  Iceland  scene  came  next. 

Here  each  peasant  maid  is  accompanied  by 
spinning- wheel  and  distaff,  their  sombre-hued 
dresses  unrelieved  save  by  the  bit  of  white  stom- 
acher and  collar,  their  set  square  faces  by  a  thick 
tassle  of  black,  secured  at  the  right  ear  with  a 
metlic  pin. 

But  their  mistress ! 

\Vho,  but  one  acquainted  with  the  facts,  would 
expect  to  find  in  little  barren,  far-away  Thule,  so 
much  grandeur  of  attire! 

Even  here,  amid  all  its  isolation  during  the 
centuries  since  the  sailing  Norseman  first  set  foot 


HENRIETTA.  HI 

upon  her  rock}-  soil,  has  the  prevailing  social  law 
had  its  -workings,  making  serfs  of  the  many, 
princes  of  the  few;  so  that  the  presiding  lady  has  a 
softer  and  more  oval  form  to  her  face,  a  more  aris- 
tocratic cast  of  features,  arid,  withal,  a  more  grace- 
ful bearing  along  \vith  the  marked  difference  of 
dress. 

Her's  was  the  robe  of  finest  silk  -with  argent 
braid,  a  crown  of  silver  upon  her  head,  from 
which  fell  a  long  veil  of  finest  lace. 

A  princess,  she  seemed,  as  she  gave  directions 
concerning  the  work  at  hand,  yet  with  an  air  quite 
free  from  the  spirit  of  caste  when  compared  with 
ways  more  southward. 

Desolate,  ocean-spra3red,  volcano-racked  island  ! 

Its  simple  fishing  and  pastoral  people  are  free 
from  much  of  the  pride  and  vice  of  lands  more 
favored. 

The  picture  from  the  \vintery  land  is  dissolved 
to  give  place  to  that  of  a  clime  almost  so  bleak, 
and  a  people  fully  as  conserved,  for  among  their 
lofty  hills  and  misty  lakes  modern  civilization 
makes  but  slow  progression. 

They  are  the  clans  of  the  Scottish  highlands,  in 
kilted  philibeg,  arid  tartan  plaid,  with  naked  knee 
and  chequered  hose,  \vith  pinch-purse  of  hair  and 
bonnet  of  blue,  they  come  with  the  bha  of 
defiance,  their  pipes  screaming,  their  notes  of 
slogan  or  war-cry,  to  show  their  ancient  customs. 

The  loud  flourish  ends  in  their  national  dance, 
along  with  some  lassies  representing  fishwives 
and  pilse-gatherers  from  the  coast. 


1 12  HENRIETTA. 

Away,  then,  go  the  mountain  tribe,  with  their 
quarrelsome  jades,  to  be  followed  by  the  Austrian 
country-waltz,  the  men  in  brown  suits  and  red 
sashes,  with  brass-tipped  shoes,  and  Vandykes 
about  their  necks,  and  the  girls  in  dresses  of  blue 
stuff,  with  aprons  and  little  crowned  caps  of 
white,  and  bows  of  ribbon  or  lace  at  their  throats. 

Scenes  more  oriental  are  then  presented.  Of 
turbaned,  curve-slippered  Turk,  and  his  close- 
veiled  women  in  all  the  gorgeous  coloring  of  their 
dreamy  land,  with  henna-stained  fingers  and  pen- 
ciled brows,  their  soft,  languid  manners  in  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  band  of  kerchiefed,  grey-clad 
damsels,  who  come  in  their  \vake  with  jeweled 
arms  and  buskined  feet  from  the  Caucasus. 

And  now  the  fair  begins,  when  all  races  unite 
in  one  grand  scale  of  barter,  seated  at  the  tables 
or  hawking  their  various  \vares  about,  \vith  much 
babble  and  confusion,  until  at  length  they  leave 
the  view  and  the  spectacular  play  ends  in  a  dis- 
pla}T  of  draped  figures  representing  the  most 
prominent  among  the  gods  and  godesses  of  mytho- 
logical da3Ts. 

The  curtain  drops  and  the  Kirmiss,  or  national 
fete,  is  over. 

"A  full  house,"  murmers  the  little  Madame,  as 
she  peers  out  upon  the  dissolving  crowd,  "and  a 
full  house  means  plenty  of  money." 

Then  she  sighs  a  little,  as  if  in  regret  at  her  an- 
ticipated departure  from  America. 

She  will  miss  the  fine  income  which  she  has 
been  receiving  for  her  entertainments,  and  she 


HENRIETTA.  113 

"wonders  whether  in  all  the  world  there  can  be 
anything  which  will  bring  to  her  the  same  satis- 
faction. 

Scarcely. 

The  woman  had  love  enough  toward  her  art  for 
.a  successful  manipulation  of  its  parts,  an  eye 
skilled  in  the  proper  delineation  of  character,  but 
over  and  above  all  an  intense  love  of  gain  ruled 
supreme  and  made  these  but  subordinate  parts,  a 
means  to  an  end. 

The  finest  lanscape  view,  the  rarest  of  rainbow 
tinted  skies,  the  sweetest  of  flowers  and  the  soft- 
est of  dulcimer  notes,  had  for  her  no  charm  only 
as  they  might,  through  management,  be  converted 
into  a  money  value. 

She  went  back  into  the  rear  room  where  a  scene 
of  confusion  met  her  gaze. 

A  great  number  were  doffing  their  stage  gear 
for  that  of  street  wear,  and  several  men  were  al- 
ready engaged  in  a  livety  brawl. 

"Stop  ze  quarrel,  I  say!"  screams  their  mistress. 

"Vy,  if  ze  new  manager  see  zis  he  no  buy  me 
out,  he  go  back  on  ze  bargain,  sure." 

"A  pack  of  ingrates,  you,  to  bring  a  fuss  at  ze 
last  moment!" 

"I  don't  care,"  says  the  queen  of  the  gipsies, 
"he,  there,"  pointing  to  one  of  the  French  Mon- 
seurs,  "  says  that  I  think  too  much  of  Jimmy  De- 
laney.  I  will  tell  him  to  his  teeth  that  he  is  a  liar, 
•even  if  I  am  married  to  him." 

"Hush,  37ou." 

"I  won't." 


114  HENRIETTA. 

"I  shall  have  you  expelled." 

"I  am  going  to  leave  of  my  own  accord,  thank 
you." 

"Zat  so?" 

"Indeed  it  is." 

"  A  worthless  hussy,  you  are,  to  go  when  I  prom- 
ised Monseur  Hilton  to  leave  ze  troop  unbroken. " 

"Let  her  go,"  said  her  husband. 

"I  guess  the  crew  can  get  along  without  her. 
They  can  likely  find  her  betters." 

"You  speak  hard  of  your  wife." 

"  She  deserves  it." 

"Any  woman  that  has  rio  more  respect  for  her- 
self than  to  be  seen  playing  cards  with  a  coon,  had 
better  leave." 

"Vat's  a  coon?" 

"A  coon?  Why,  don't  you  know  that  means  a 
nigger." 

"Ze  sakes  alive,  vat  one  talk  is  dis  Knglish;  me 
never  learn  it!" 

"A  coon!  One  dark  man  a  coon,  and  I  never 
hear  ze  word  before." 

"Well,  I  found  her  playing  casino  with  a  darkeyr 
if  that  sounds  any  better,  and,  besides,  I  know  that 
she  is  dead  in  love  with  red-headed  Jim.  I  guess 
I  can  see  as  far  as  I  can  hear. 

"Oh!  Oh!  Oh!"  uttered  the  actress. 

Here  she  threw  herself  on  the  floor  as  if  in  a  fit, 
while  several  of  the  girls  endeavored  to  raise  her 
upon  her  feet. 

"I  wont  get  up!"  she  cried.  "I  won't!  I  wonrt!  I 
won't!  so  you  may  as  \vell  leave  me  alone.  I  shall 


HENRIETTA.  115 

just  lie  here  to  spite  him."  And  she  pressed  both 
hands  to  the  carpet  as  if  to  hold  herself  by  it. 

"It  must  be  ze  hysteria,"  said  the  mistress, 
"quick,  girls,  bring  me  some  water." 

"Oh!  Oh!  vat  shall  I  do!" 

"  Vat,  an  if  ze  new  manager  vill  now  come!  He 
vill  ziiik  us  hard  set,  I  be  sure." 

"Go  away  with  your  water,  I  am  not  in  a  fit,  I 
am  only  mad  at  Will." 

"Oh,  the  villian!  to  say  such  mean  things  about 
me,  when  he  knows  I  meant  no  harm." 

"What  if  I  did  play  at  cards  with  an  innocent 
black  man,  is  that  so  great  a  wrong?  And,  as  to 
being  in  love  with  anybody  but  himself,  why,  he 
knows  that  is  a  barefaced  lie!" 

At  that  moment  two  strong  arms  encompassed 
her. 

"Do  you  mean  that,  May?  do  you  really  mean 
that  you  love  only  me?" 

"Of  course  I  do,  but  I  shall  not  get  up  from  the 
floor  until  you  say  that  you  are  sorry  for  what  you 
have  said." 

"I  am  sorry,  my  May,  but  how  could  I  help  it 
when  I  have  been  thinking  all  along  that  you 
were  taken  with  that  insolent  cuss  of  a  Jim,  \vith 
his  cock  eyes  and  firey  hair." 

At  this  point  the  discomposed  queen  arose,  the 
tears  still  making  little  seams  of  white  over  her 
rogue  stained  cheeks,  a  reconciliation  between  the 
two  having  been  accomplished  until  another  spell 
of  jealousy  should  occur,  and  a  succession  of  them 
finally  end  in  a  divorce  court. 


116  HENRIETTA. 

Scarcely  had  Madame  Boise  been  relieved  from 
this  grief  until  another  broke  out. 

Two  girls  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  room  were 
wrangling  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  their  waltz- 
ing abilities. 

"You  can't  waltz  at  all,"  said  one  with  a  wil- 
lowy figure,  "you  are  too  dumpy." 

"Yes,  but  if  I  am  stout  and  short  I  know  how  to 
give  myself  a  graceful  turn,  a  thing  which  you 
seem  unable  to  do,  as  you  just  jump  about  like  an 
Irish  jig-dancer." 

In  this  way  they  had  been  bantering  each  other 
until  the  dispute  had  grown  into  an  angry 
howl. 

The  nerves  of  their  mistress — already  at  the 
highest  strain  of  excitement — lost  their  balance, 
and  the  little  woman  flew  at  the  two  contestants 
with  clenched  fists  and  flashing  eyes. 

"There!  there!  there!"  she  said,  pounding  them 
alternately  over  back  and  shoulder  with  all  her 
might,  and  ended  by  giving  each  a  slap  in  the 
face,  "now  \vill  you  be  still,  you  pests,  you  jades, 
you  quarrelsome  zings  !" 

"Have  you  no  respect  for  yourselves,  no  feelings 
forme?" 

"  You  know  zat  ze  monsieur  sa\T  he  may  be 
call  in  ze  dressing  room  afore  he  go  away  to- 
night." 

"Come,  Agnes,"  she  said,  addressing  a  tall  girl 
who  stood  as  if  petrified  in  the  shadow  of  the  cur- 
tain, a  wondering  oft-looker  at  the  coarse  and 
curious  scene. 


III-:\k'TETTA.  H7 

"  Vy  you  stand  /ere  so  queer,  help  me  to  uvt 
zese  devil's  children  ready  for  ze  street.  1  not 
want  Monsieur  Hilton  to  ze  zem  iio\v." 

The  girl  moved  forward  in  a  mechanical  sort  of 
way,  as  she  commenced  to  do  all  in  her  power 
toward  assisting  in  the  arrangement  of  wraps  and 
furs,  and  in  gathering  up  the  scattered  para- 
pharnalia  and  pack  them  into  trunks. 

She  is  our  earlier  acquaintance,  Agnes  Flern- 
ming.  t 

Thoroughly  weary  of  the  \vearing  and  dreary 
monotony  of  factory  life,  as  \vell  as  to  gratify  an 
innate  love  of  travel,  for  the  sake  of  mental  im- 
provement, she  had  replied  to  an  advertisement 
offering  herself  as  a  sort  of  waiting-maid  arid  com- 
panion to  a  person  going  abroad. 

This  person  proved  to  be  Madame  Du  Boise. 

One  week  in  the  society  of  her  employer  had 
almost  caused  her  to  regret  her  agreement,  and, 
were  it  not  that  a  certain  dash  of  resolution  be- 
yond the  common  in  her  nature  always  stood  in 
the  \vfiy  of  retraction  where  any  of  her  formed 
plans  were  concerned,  she  would  have  left  her  at 
once  to  return  to  her  former  \vork  at  the  factory, 
with  its  dust  and  grime,  and  eternal  noise  and 
clatter. 

What  little  she  had  seen  of  theatrical  life  had 
entirely  cured  her  of  the  longing,  which,  along 
with  many  young  girls,  she  had  indulged  in  toward 
the  stage;  for  she  perceived  that  life  back  of  the 
curtains  was  altogether  different  from  what  it 
seemed  to  be  upon  the  boards,  in  the  glare  of  the 


118  HENRIETTA. 

footlights,  with  the  fascination  of  dress,  music  and 
the  adulation  of  the  crowd.  Also,  that  though  good 
men  and  women  may  be,  and  are,  engaged  in  such 
work,  yet  the  coarser  element  is  apt  to  overpower 
the  finer. 

She  was  quite  disgusted  \vith  it. 

There  was  yet  another  reason  -why  she  was  de- 
termined to  keep  her  new  position,  and  this  was 
the  remuneration  she  was  to  receive. 

Madame  Du  Boise  had  travelled  throughout  the 
United  States  along  with  her  troupe,  long  enough 
to  bring  into  her  coffers  a  fortune  sufficiently  large 
to  have  satisfied  anyone  with  a  modest  ambition. 

She  was  rich,  therefore,  could  afford  to  give  to 
her  waiting  \voman  more  than  twice  the  amount 
of  her  former  \vages,  outside  of  traveling  expenses. 

Fifty  dollars  a  month,  -with  nothing  to  get  out 
of  it,  for  herself,  but  her  clothing. 

How  big  it  seemed  to  the  girl,  and  what  glorious 
and  -wonderful  castles  she  built  for  the  future,  in 
which  the  loved  ones  at  home  dwelt  in  ideal  com- 
fort. 

Her  father,  she  reasoned,  by  means  of  this  extra 
income,  would  be  enabled  to  go  on  \vith  his  inven- 
tions. Her  mother  would  at  times,  securs  to  herself 
the  help  she  so  much  needed  in  order  to  give  to  her 
over-worked  body  some  rest ;  and  the  childrens' 
clothes  could  be  made  so  much  more  comfortable, 
to  guard  them  against  the  bitter  blasts  of  winter. 

The  vehemence  and  ardor  of  her  affections, 
coupled  with  her  youth,  caused  her  imagination 
to  run  riot  with  her  judgement,  so  that  the  money 


HENRIETTA.  119 

which  she  would  send  to  them  was  made  to  ex- 
pand until  it  covered  a  great  deal;  in  fact,  more 
than  twice  the  amount  could  have  done  ;  but  this 
must  be  forgiven  her,  as  it  was  but  the  fruit  of  her 
great  arid  unselfish  love  for  those  she  was  about 
to  leave  behind  her. 

The  two  girls  were  evidently  accustomed  to  the 
passionate  assaults  of  their  mistress,  as  they  bore 
her  beats  and  cuffs  with  incredible  tameness,  and, 
as  if  in  shame  for  their  conduct,  were  preparing  to 
go  out  as  quietly  as  possible,  when  the  new  man- 
ager entered. 

Madame  Du  Boise  was  still  in  a  flurry,  with  her 
face  distorted  by  angry  feelings  ;  but  the  moment 
she  spied  flie  strange  face  at  the  door,  the  whole 
contour  of  her  face  changed. 

From  a  sullen  and  fierce  frown,  her  countenance 
became,  in  a  twinkling,  one  of  smiling  complais- 
ance. 

She  bowed  gently,  then  extended  to  him  her  hand. 

To  the  skilled  eye  the  real  heart  is  seen. 

Monsieur  Hilton  had  seen  too  much  of  human 
nature  not  to  observe  the  look  of  hypocrisy  up- 
on the  sharp,  curved  features  and  in  the  small  glit- 
tering eyes. 

He  knew,  as  if  by  impression,  that  a  scene  had 
been  taking  place. 

Most  of  the  girls  smirked  or  giggled  as  they 
were  introduced,  a  few  looked  at  him  with  modest 
reserve,  and  nearly  all  were  glad  of  the  change; 
for  they  saw  in  his  clear  eyes  and  open  brow  no 
tyrannical  master. 


120  HENRIETTA. 

An  introduction  to  each  member,  a  few  remarks 
in  regard  to  their  new  relations,  a  critical  look  at 
the  faces  of  the  whole  assembly,  an  appointment 
for  rehersal  at  a  certain  hour  011  the  day  following,, 
and  Monsieur  Hilton  bade  them  good-night,  leav- 
ing as  quietly  as  he  had  entered. 

Madame  Boise  was  likewise  to  meet  them  at  the 
set  time  to  pay  to  them  all  arrears  of  wages,  "for," 
she  remarked,  "I  \vantthe  new  Monsieur  to  know 
that  I  am  clear  of  all  debts  to  the  company,  and 
may  he  always  keep  you  as  \vell  paid  up." 

Then  they  all  felt  that,  aside  from  her  avarice 
and  quick,  violent  temper,  there  was  still  some- 
thing good  about  the  woman. 

Agnes  kept  watching  her  mistress  wtiile  in  the 
car  on  the  way  to  her  home,  and,  after  a  long  and 
careful  study  of  her  physiognomy,  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  one  might  trust  her  as  against 
anything  dishonorable,  likewise  that  she  was 
capable  of  real  affection  for  those  who  should 
rightly  engage  her  attention. 

To  be  sure,  the  step  she  was  about  to  take  was 
rather  a  daring  one,  but  Agnes  was  an  American 
girl,  possessed  of  an  American  girl's  aptitude  of 
looking  upon  the  best  side,  both  of  life  and  indi- 
viduals, and,  besides,  she  owned  much  of  native 
shrewdness,  which  gave  her  the  assurance  of 
being  perfectly  able  to  take  care  of  herself,  even 
though  she  were  going  to  g&y,  wicked  Paris,  of 
which  she  had  read  a  good  deal. 

She  would  go  along  \vith  the  Madame  -when  the 
time  came. 


HENRIETTA.  121 

This  was  her  conclusion  as  she  alighted  from 
the  car  and  followed  Madame  Du  Boise  into  a  small 
cottage,  far  from  the  central  part  of  the  city,  and 
found  herself  in  a  cosy  room,  warm  with  a  glow- 
ing fire  of  anthracite,  and  bright  with  handsome 
carpet  and  furniture. 

"Take  off  3Tour  zings  and  lie  down  awhile  on  ze 
sofa.  You  must  be  tired  out,  poor  girl,"  said  the 
shrill,  piping  voice  of  the  mistress. 

"I  shall  ring  for  a  cup  of  tea  and  some  hot  toast 
for  you  to  eat  before  you  go  to  ze  bed." 

She  rang  a  tiny  silver  bell,  but  no  response  was 
given. 

"Dear  me,"  she  said,  "I  suppose  zat  stupid 
Swede  have  gone  out  and  lefe  ze  house  alone  for 
ze  burglars,  or  else  she  is  asleep  after  the  partic- 
ular order  I  give  her  to  be  here  to  receive  us  when 
we  came." 

"I  supposed  zat  you  would  want  some  refresh- 
ment when  ze  trying  time  wiz  dose  girls  sail  be 
over.  As  for  my  part,  I  drink  wine,  but  I  guess  zat 
you  be  not  used  to  it." 

Agnes  gave  a  negative  answer. 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  went  on  the  little  woman, 
"you  Yankee  people  are — ze  most  of  you — vera 
temperance,  vera  much  so,  indeed,  but  vot  is 
ze  use?  Zat's  vat  I  sail  like  to  know.  Are  you 
stronger?  are  you  better?  are  you  ze  finer 
here?"  putting  her  finger  on  her  forehead.  "I 
zink  not." 

"Kvery  one  to  his  way,  though,  and  I  shall 
go  myself  and  make  for  you  ze  cup  of  tea." 


122  HENRIETTA. 

She  went  back  into  the  kitchen  and  Agnes  was 
left  to  scrutinize  her  new  surroundings,  for, 
although  a  week  almost  had  passed  since  her 
ntercourse  and  service  with  her  employer,  this 
was  the  first  time  she  had  set  foot  within  her 
home. 

There  was  the  ordinary  plushed-lined  chairs, 
the  delicate  rocker  with  its  laced  back,  the  center 
table  with  cover  of  gold  and  purple,  the  shining 
plated  stove,  the  heavy  draping  of  the  windows,  a 
lambrequined  shelf,  upon  which  a  tiny  clock 
ticked  away  the  minutes  and  chimed  away  the 
hours. 

In  one  corner  of  the  room  a  gilt  cage  held  a 
drowsy  parrot,  and  upon  the  \vall  a  solitary 
picture  "was  hung. 

This  picture  attracted  her  attention. 
.  It  was  the  one  which  had  been  bought  by  the 
strange  woman  out  on  the  Lyndale  road. 

This  cottage  she  knew  was  on  Lyndale,  and  the 
woman  must  have  been  Madame  Du  Boise,  then, 
who  had  patronized  her  friend. 

While  engaged  in  a  scrutiny  of  it  the  sleeping 
parrot  awoke  and  at  once  commenced  a  tirade  of 
abuse  in  its  stereotyped  manner  of  words. 

"Go  out!  go  out!  nasty  thing!  nasty  thing!" 

It  kept  on  at  the  repetition,  until  its  mistress 
appeared  with  the  tea  and  toast,  when  its  scolding 
song  was  changed  to  one  of  pleading. 

"Polly  wants  her  tea,  Polly  wants  her  tea,"  it 
cried,  until  its  voice  was  stilled  by  some  toast 
being  thrust  between  the  bars. 


HENRIETTA.  123 

"An  imprudent  sauce-box,  zat,"  says  Madame, 
"one  who  rules  me  and  all  about  the  place." 

"Now  eat  your  bite  and  drink  your  tea,  Agnes, 
after  which  you  must  retire,  as  it  is  getting  quite 
late,  eleven  and  more  ;  but  then  you  need  not  arise 
too  early  in  ze  morning,  take  your  nap  out  and  I 
shall  see  zat  ze  breakfast  is  kept  for  you." 

"I  was  just  observing  the  picture  yonder,"  said 
Agnes,  looking  to  the  wall.  "  Do  you  know  that 
the  artist  is  a  friend  of  mine?  " 

"Is  it  so?"  asked  the  owner  a  little  surprised. 

"Yes,  she  is  a  near  neighbor  to  me  when  I  am  at 
home,  and  her  name  is  Janneaux,  Eldie  Janneaux." 

"  Why,  zat  is  one  French  name!  it  is  to  be  sure." 

"Yes,  it  is  French,  and  Eldie  is  of  French  extrac- 
tion, and  some  say  that  sJie  has  Indian  about  her, 
too ;  but  I  cannot  say  whether  the  last  is  true. 
At  any  rate  she  is  a  dear,  good  girl,  -whom  every- 
body loves." 

Madame  Du  Boise  looked  at  her  in  a  queer  sort 
of  way. 

"And  how  long  ago  came  ze  people  from  France? 
I  mean  her  people." 

Oh,  I  am  not  able  to  say  as  to  that.  They  are 
Canadian-French,  I  believe,  and  most  of  them 
there  are  of  old  stock,  dating  their  foreign  ancestry 
back  to  three  or  four  generations,  and  even  more. 
They  are  mostly  thoroughly  Americanized." 

"I  saw  ze  picture  at  ze  art  rooms,  and  finding 
out  where  ze  owner  lived,  I  drove  over  and  bought 
it.  I  paid  ze  money  to  a  man  and  he  brought  it 
out  to  me  as  I  stay  in  my  carriage." 


124  HENRIETTA. 

"That  must  have  been  Eldie's  uncle." 

"  I  got  ze  painting,  because  ze  little  boy  on  ze 
bank  of  flowers  is  so  like  one  boy  I  once  did  know." 

Then,  as  if  to  change  the  conversation,  she  be- 
gan to  scold  the  bird  for  dropping  crumbs  upon 
the  carpet,  after  which  she  offered  to  show  the 
girl  to  her  chamber. 

"Go  out!  go  out!  nasty  thing!  nast}r  thing!" 
assailed  their  ears  as  the}T  ascended  the  stairs, 
and  Agnes  wondered  "whether  the  noisy  chatterer 
was  to  be  an  accompaniment  across  the  ocean,  and 
thought  that  her  companion  seemed  to  have  much 
less  control  over  the  bird  than  she  did  over  the 
members  of  the  theatrical  troupe. 

The  next  day  was  spent  by  Madame  Du  Boise  in 
meeting  her  former  pupils  in  the  art  mimetic,  and 
to  attending  to  some  shopping  affairs  preparatory 
to  her  journey  ;  and  by  Agnes  in  paying  a  farewell 
visit  to  her  home  and  acquaintances. 

There  was  the  usual  amount  of  sadness  dis- 
played by  her  parents  when  the  oldest,  the  best 
loved  child  of  a  family  is  about  to  branch  out  into 
the  world  for  the  first  time,  and  to  be  thrust  be- 
yond the  customary  home  influences. 

Had  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Flemming  consulted  their 
own  feelings  they  never  could  have  consented  for 
her  to  leave  their  care  for  that  of  a  total 
stranger. 

To  have  her  leave  her  own  land  for  one  beyond 
the  seas,  even  though  the  time  promised  to  be 
short ;  but  the  poor  have  not  the  ordering  of  their 
lives. 


HENRIETTA.  125 

They  thought  of  the  possible  advantages  which 
might  fall  to  their  child  in  her  new  relations,  of 
the  difference  in  their  incomes,  along  \vith  her 
own  inclinations,  which  they  felt  to  be  proper 
enough. 

Then  there  was  the  unbound  faith  which  they 
had  in  this  pure,  strong  girl  of  theirs  ;  faith  that 
insured  her  to  them  to  hold  good  her  integrity  in 
all  emergencies. 

She  bade  them  a  tearful  farewell,  with  the 
promise  that  not  more  than  a  year  should  pass 
before  her  return  to  her  native  land  and  to  her 
loved  ones. 

The  furniture  of  the  cottage  was  soon  disposed 
of,  all  but  the  painting,  and,  in  accordance  -with  her 
half  expectation  and  to  her  annoyance,  the  bird 
and  the  cage,  the  last  to  be  carried  by  Agnes  her- 
self and  to  fall  under  her  particular  supervision. 

The  picture  was  packed  into  one  of  Madam's 
trunks,  and  it  was  noticeable  \vhat  very  great  care 
she  took  of  it ;  at  one  time  being  surprised  by 
Agnes  while  in  the  act  of  pressing  her  lips  upon 
that  part  of  the  canvas  where  the  boy  was  repre- 
sented! 

She  made  no  explanation  of  the  movement 
other  than  to  say  that  it  was  so  cunning  a  portrait 
that  it  quite  entranced  her,  but  the  listener  con- 
sidered the  proceeding  as  singular,  at  least. 

In  due  time  they  reached  the  great  steamer 
which  was  about  to  launch  from  out  the  harbor  of 
New  York  Ba}T,  without  any  unusual  occurrence, 
except  that  Agnes  mistook  the  parlor  of  the 


126  HENRIETTA. 

steamer  \vhich  was  to  carr3r  them  from  Hoboken 
across  the  channel  to  their  starting  point,  for  the 
•waiting  room  of  the  railway  station;  and  thought 
the  vessel  a  long  while  in  coming  for  them;  when, 
to  her  surprise,  she  was  told  that  she  had  been 
sailing  for  some  time;  was,  in  fact,  almost  in  the 
great  metropolis! 

She  was,  however,  not  the  first  who  has  labored 
under  the  like  false  impression  of  surroundings 
at  the  same  point. 

The  grand  ocean! 

How  delighted  the  mid-land  born  girl  was  the 
first  time  she  caught  sight  of  its  broad,  glittering 
expanse  ;  and  how  refreshing  was  its  breeze  to  her 
after  a  sojourn  of  a  day  and  half  in  New  York. 

Once  fairly  out  of  land  sight,  in  the  freshness  of 
a  spring  morning,  it  seemed  to  her  like  the  com- 
mencement of  a  journey  to  some  other  \vorld 
than  this,  so  strange  was  the  new  sensation ;  a 
sensation  which  for  hours  kept  her  from  even 
thinking  of  the  home  and  friends  she  was  leaving 
behind. 

Indeed,  throughout  the  entire  run  of  thirteen 
days  her  principal  place  was  upon  the  deck,  where, 
among  other  passengers,  she  walked  up  and  down 
engaged  in  admiration  of  the  \vater-kingdom,  with 
its  gently  undulating  surface,  green,  blue,  or 
bronzed  by  the  sun's  rays,  or  else  sitting  in  a  cor- 
ner absorbed  by  her  books. 

She  was  fortunate  enough  to  escape  sea-sick- 
ness, but  not  so  the  little  Madame,  for  she  was  ill 
quite  a  good  deal  of  the  time,  but  thoughtfully 


HENRIETTA.  127 

made  as  little  trouble  as  possible,  so  that  Agnes 
was  not  often  called  away  from  her  pleasant  place 
in  the  air  and  sunlight,  to  the  less  cheering  one 
of  the  cabin. 

But  the  bird  had  no  such  lenient  inclinations 
toward  her. 

His  wants  must  be  attended,  otherwise  he  \vould 
make  it  known  by  the  most  terrific  screams, 
uttered  along  with  his  usual  string  of  abuse. 

It  was,  while  attending  to  him  one  day,  in  a 
nook  of  the  deck,  \vhere  she  had  deposited  him 
among  some  rope  coils  and  boxes,  that  she  made 
the  acquaintance  of  an  Knglish  ornithologist, 
Alfred  Rae. 

He  was  and  elderly  man  of  fifty,  or  near  to  sixty, 
perhaps,  \vith  iron-grey  hair  and  whiskers. 

He  introduced  himself,  with  the  apology  that 
his  great  love  for  birds  always  induced  him  to 
speak  to  any  person  who  had  one  in  charge. 

Then  he  told  her  all  about  the  peculiarities  of 
the  family  to  which  this  bird  belonged,  taking 
Polly  from  the  cage  as  he  talked,  and  caressing 
him  as  tenderly  as  he  would  have  done  a  child. 

He  was  also  something  of  a  philosopher,  as  she 
found  during  their  talks  together,  and  spoke  one 
day  of  different  authors  of  his,  Oken,  Hegel, 
Spencer. 

His  "was  the  Hegelian  method. 

"I  believe  with  the  great  German,"  he  said, 
"that  to  philosophize  is  to  rethink  the  great 
thought  of  creation  for  all  nature,  all  of  the 
human  mind  is  but  what  God  has  made  it." 


128  HENRIETTA. 

He  seemed  glad  to  have  a  listener  to  his  abstract 
thought,  for  —  parenthetically,  it  may  be  said — 
that  they  were  not  over  plenty,  so  that  even  though 
it  were  but  this  unletterd  girl,  who  listened  to 
him  with  wonder  and  admiration  for  his  know- 
ledge; although  the  most  of  his  words  were  Greek 
to  her,  who  knew  little  beyond  the  elementary 
books,  still  his  scientific  discourse  gave  her  a 
glimpse  into  the  wonders  of  nature  and  of  nature's 
philosophy,  as  he  took  pains  to  explain  it. 

He  proved  to  her  a  pleasant  companion,  until 

the  arival   of  the  steamer  at   Havre,  whence   he 

• 

took  his  departure  for  a  science  congress  to  be 
held  somewhere  in  Germany. 

They  took  railway  from  Havre  to  Paris,  arriv- 
ing there  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  just  as  the 
declining  sun  was  lighting  it  up  with  a  radiance 
of  roseate  glory;  and  Agnes  thought  the  sight 
fine  indeed,  but  her  companion  was  entranced 
almost  beyond  herself  with  delight  upon  the  fair 
and  busy  scenes  which  met  her  gaze. 

She  had  been  from  it  many  years,  and  yet  all 
this  time,  \vith  the  advent  of  new  places  and 
views,  had  not  one  whit  of  power  to  abate  her  love 
for  this,  her  early  home. 

"Paris!  my  Paris!"  she  exclaimed  with  the  pro- 
nunciation peculiar  to  her  people,  and  in  all  the 
nervous  excitement  belonging  to  the  race,  "how  de- 
lightful to  be  once  more  upon  your  streets  ! "  Then 
her  address  died  away  in  a  phrase  or  two  of  French. 

This  is  true,  that  whatever  the  faults  of  the 
French  Capital  may  be,  no  inhabitant  of  another 


HENRIETTA.  129 

city  has  the  love  for  his  home  that  the  Parisian 
feels  for  his. 

To  the  stranger  it  is  a  place  rich  in  historical 
associations,  of  early  educational  facilities  and 
antique  synods,  also  a  place  of  siege,  of  war, 
of  tumult,  and  red-handed  injustice.  But  to  the 
native,  it  is  Paris,  the  queen  of  the  Seine,  the 
home  of  high-blooded  nobles,  and  plebean,  the 
garden  of  beauty  and  of  pleasure;  Paris,  the 
golden ! 

They  drove  to  a  house  in  the  Rue  de  TOrnae, 
where  the  Madame  had,  by  dispatch  from  Havre, 
engaged  rooms  and  boarding  for  them,  and  here 
they  found  rest  from  the  fatigue  of  their  journey, 
the  spot  being  quiet  and  retired. 

A  few  days  after  she  bought  a  snug  little  resi- 
dence not  far  from  the  Champs  Klysees,  for,  as  if 
to,  in  a  manner,  regain  some  of  the  pleasure 
she  had  lost  away  from  her  beloved  soil,  she 
sought  the  city's  most  beautiful  part,  even  though 
it  caused  her  to  draw  heavily  upon  her  money 
pile. 

Afterwards  came  the  furnishing,  which  was 
done  in  good  taste.  The  securing  of  a  servant  to 
attend  to  domestic  affairs,  of  a  porter  to  do  the 
errands,  keep  the  little  garden  with  its  one  tree  of 
St.  Katherin's  pears  in  order,  and  the  grass  of  the 
little  yard  at  the  front  neatly  cut,  also  to  take 
charge  of  the  pony  and  pheaton,  which  she  pur- 
chased along  with  the  dwelling. 

In  this  cosy  nest  the  little  woman  expected  to 
stay  until  the  time  when — in  all  likelihood — she 


130  HENRIETTA. 

would  rent  it  for  a  season,  while  she  made  a 
second  trip  to  America,  \vhere,  by  means  of  her 
former  profession,  she  might  again  fill  her  purse. 

She  had  meant  to  return  at  the  time  of  her 
leaving,  and  it  was  this  idea  that  caused  her  to 
advertise  for  a  traveling  friend  while  there,  as 
she  thought  by  a  continual  contact  with  an 
Knglish-speaking  person  to  improve  in  her  knowl- 
edge of  the  language  by  that  time. 

Agnes  was  delighted  with  her  quarters. 

Her  mistress  increased  in  kindness  to  her  daily, 
her  duties  were  not  severe,  her  \vages  were 
paid  with  exact  regularity  at  the  end  of  each 
month;  the  reception  of  her  money  checks, 
duly  chronicled,  in  the  letters  received  from 
her  home  together  with  an  account  of  the 
most  gratifing  results  to  the  family  through  the 
bounty  received. 

Twice  a  week  she  went  along  with  Madame  Du 
Boise  to  the  grand  theatre  Royale,  where,  although 
she  could  not  understand  the  language  of  the 
plays,  yet  she  was  charmed  by  the  soul-thrilling 
music  of  the  fine  orchestra,  the  gayly  dressed  men 
and  women,  the  handsome  building  and  rich 
scenic  display. 

Sometimes  they  attended  the  different  art  gal- 
leries, one  of  whose  pictures  her  companion  was 
so  well  acquainted  with  that  she  knew  nearly  all 
of  the  history  connected  with  them,  of  how  the 
painter  of  this  one  was  an  extremely  poor  man, 
one  of  the  lowest  among  the  peasant  class.  Slow- 
ly he  had  arisen  by  the  force  of  his  own  merit, 


HENRIETTA.  131 

until  at  last  he  had  reached  the  highest  niche  of 
his  profession,  and  died  rich  and  respected. 

Of  the  next,  which  was  painted  by  a  Genoese 
who  was  compelled  to  flee  from  his  native  land 
and  to  find  a  refuge  in  France,  all  on  account  of 
political  complications — of  another,  the  wife  of  a 
nobleman,  la  Comptesse  La  Noir,  who  had  been 
beheaded  by  Murat. 

Then  came  the  tale  of  one  which  had  been 
made  by  a  shoemaker  artist,  who  was  compelled 
to  ply  his  trade  as  a  means  of  subsistaiice  in  the 
dark  days  preceeding  the  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tion, when  artisan  and  labor  were  ground  to  the 
very  dust  by  an  overeaching  aristocracy,  along 
with  a  corrupt  government.  Of  how  his  gen- 
ius struggled  against  all  odds  \vith  a  force 
which  could  not  be  baffled,  causing,  by  it  pressure, 
time  to  be  found  to  devote  to  its  imparative  de- 
mands— of  how  he  toiled  jrears  upon  years  with- 
out recognition,  until  at  last,  at  the  age  of  seventy, 
he  produced  this,  his  master  piece,  which  brought 
him  both  fame  and  riches.  But  the  rebound  from 
his  woful  indigence  and  humility  to  one  of  afflu: 
ence  and  honor  was  so  great  that  he  died  in  a 
short  time  of  the  effect,  it  would  seem — died  of 
overjoy. 

Agnes  thought  that  of  all  the  pathetic 
stories  connected  with  them,  this  was  the  most 
pitiful. 

To  think  that  anyone  should,  Sysiphus-like, 
have  the  stone  of  fate  to  roll  continually  back 
upon  them  through  such  an  age  of  years,  and 


132  HENRIETTA. 

when  at  length  he  did  succeed  in  keeping  it  off  to 
die  of  the  very  success  of  the  effort ! 

She  dearly  loved  to  roam  about  in  view  of  the 
works  of  these  great  people,  and  to  listen  to  the 
short  biographies  of  them  given  by  one  who 
seemed  to  have  acquired  quite  a  good  deal  of  pic- 
ture lore  in  her  life  time,  relating  it  with  great 
fluency  as  it  recurred  to  her  memory. 

On  fine  days  they  rode  through  the  Champs 
Klysees,  along  the  shaded  boulevards,  or  visited 
the  vicinity  of  the  Louvre  or  of  the  Truilleries,  and 
upon  Sundays  went  to  the  church  of  Notre  Dame, 
to  hear  the  rich  notes  of  the  organ  in  Gomiod's 
Messe  Solemnelle,  or  to  listen  to  the  deeply  in- 
toned chanting  of  people  and  surpliced  choir. 

Agnes  commenced  a  study  of  the  language  of 
the  country  into  which  she  had  so  suddenly  been 
brought. 

She  wished  to  learn  it  for  her  own  sake  and 
also  to  please  Madame  Du  Boise,  who  wanted  her 
to  learn  it,  "if,"  as  she  said,  "for  110  other  reason 
than  that  she  might,  among  her  other  duties, 
teach  it  to  Polly,  as  it  would  be  so  cunning  in  him 
to  be  able  to  chatter  his  limited  phrases  in  her 
own  tongue ! 

Madame  Du  Boise  seemed  to  have  but  few 
acquaintances  in  the  city. 

Either  her  former  friends  had  all  taken  their 
departure  during  her  absence,  or  else  she  had 
never  had  any,  and  what  few  did  recognize  her  in 
doors  or  on  the  street  all  seemed  to  be  of  a  rather 
shabby  class,  so  that  Agnes  inferred  that  the 


HENRIETTA.  133 

little  woman  with  the  eccentric — and,  at  times — 
coarse  manners,  must  have  in  her  earlier  days 
belonged  to  the  ordinary  class  of  work-women,  or 
grisettes,  as  they  are  termed  among  the  Parisians. 

She  never  mentioned  her  past  life  except  once, 
and  that  was  when  she  was  driving  past  an  old 
and  dingy  factory  of  some  sort,  when  she  said,  "I 
worked  here  when  a  young  \voman  of  twenty," 
but  as  she  was  now  fifty,  that  period  carried  her 
back  thirty  years,  and  proved  that  although  Paris 
might  not  be  her  native  soil,  it  had  long  been 
her  place  of  abode,  also  any  friends  she  then  had 
might  have  died  or  left  the  place. 

At  any  rate  the  possibilities  of  Agnes  seeing 
much  of  the  social  life  of  the  gay  capital  seemed 
to  be  limited  in  the  extreme,  and  that  the  Madame, 
appearing  to  realize  this,  was  determined  that  the 
young  American  should,  at  least,  see  some  of  the 
natural  beauties  of  that  part  of  Europe  which 
was  contiguous,  and  as  this  would  likewise  be  of 
the  most  striking  portion  to  one»of  her  temper- 
ment,it  would  leave  a  lasting  impression  upon  her 
mind  as  a  happy  remembrance  of  her  trip  abroad 
in  years  to  come. 

So  she  reasoned,  and  in  order  to  bring  about 
this  effect  upon  one  whom  she  began  to  love  as  a 
daughter  almost,  she  organized  the  plan  of  first,  a 
journey  up  the  Rhine,  with  a  sojourn  among 
the  Alps,  and  then  a  run  into  Italy. 

They  left  Paris  the  middle  of  July  and  was  soon 
in  the  land  of  gothic  splendor,  on  board  of  one  of 
the  lazy  steamers  \vhich  ply  the  blue  waters  of 


134  HENRIETTA. 

the  far-famed  and  enchanting  river  of  the  north; 
with  its  prospective  castles  towering  high  on  crag 
or  knoll,  its  drowsy  old  towns,  sheltered  close 
under  the  vine-clad  hills,  its  quaintly  dressed  and 
brusque  mannered  men  and  women,  and  its  build- 
ings of  peaks  and  gables,  while  over  all  the  yellow 
shower  of  the  summer  sun  shedding  its  pale  glow 
on  rock  and  ruin,  meadow  and  ravine,  with  such 
a  spirit  of  sleep  in  its  misty  depths  that  all  life 
seemed  to  have  left  the  place  so  quiet  was  the 
scene. 

This  quiet  intensified  as  the  night  shades  began 
to  lengthen  along  the  river  and  to  creep  over 
tower  and  hill,  tinging  the  \vater  \vith  a  deeper 
purple,  and  the  blue  of  the  sk}r  with  a  darker  hue. 

Then  the  little  steamer  pulled  up  for  the  night 
at  a  village  which  seemed  to  be  possesed  by  ex- 
tremely cold-blooded  inhabitants,  as  they  were 
put  to  bed  upon  feathers  piled  so  high  that  they 
were  under  the  necessity  of  mounting  upon  chairs 
in  order  to  reach  their  down}T  depths;  and  where 
everything  was  so  scrupulously  neat  and  clean 
that  the  aroma  from  the  kitchen  reminded  them 
of  eating,  -with  pleasure.  No  fear  of  dirt  here. 

In  the  morning  they  found  that  the  business  of 
the  place  was  carried  on  chiefly  by  short-petti- 
coated  and  tight  bodiced  women  with  panniered 
donkeys,  and  girls  with  boquets  of  cultivated 
flowers,  one  of  whom,  with  a  not  ungraceful  air 
presented  a  bunch  to  Agnes,  with  "liebmassen 
und  veilchen  der  shone  franleiu,"  as  a  gift,  ap- 
parently, but  she  knew,  or  divined  at  least,  that 


HENRIETTA.  135 

money  was  expected,  and  accordingly  dropped  a 
sou  or  two  in  her  hand  in  return  for  it. 

Trade  was  mostly  between  the  venders  and  the 
bargemen  along  the  river.  The  last  bought  food 
supplies  or  the  few  passengers  who  happened  to 
stop  occasionally  for  a  night's  lodging,  or  a  few- 
days  rest,  brought  them  money  enough  to  keep 
up  a  knowledge  of  its  appearance  at  least. 

In  time  they  passed  the  Drachen  Fels,  or 
Giant's  rocks,  the  seat  of  the  Lorlie,  or  invulner- 
able fairy,  whose  siren  song  of  old  was  wont  to 
lure  unwary  boatmen  upon  the  rocks  at  her  feet, 
and  so  to  ruin;  with  all  the  other  charmful  spots 
which  are  usually  pointed  out  to  tourists  along 
the  rugged  banks  of  the  picturesque  stream. 

After  a  week  or  more  spent  in  this  way  they 
left  for  the  Swiss  Alps,  where  they  ensconced 
themselves  in  a  chalet  in  the  very  shadow  of  the 
Wetterhorn. 

Here  they  engaged  a  guide  who  spoke  both 
German  and  French  to  pilot  them  about  the 
vicinity. 

This  was  well  enough,  as  he  proved  both  skillful 
in  his  profession  and  well  posted  in  all  legends  of 
the  place,  the  only  drawback  being  that  Madame 
Du  Boise  was  obliged  to  translate  all  that  he  said 
into  English  for  the  benefit  of  Agnes. 

Only  one  of  these  she  thought  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  explain  in  full,  of  thrilling  wildness 
and  peculiar  adaptation  to  the  surroundings  it 
was,  and  interwoven  \vith  it  a  love  romance  so 
strange  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 


136  HENRIETTA. 

guide — by  the  extra  force  he  put  upon  its  narra- 
tion— considered  it  as  among  the  choicest  of  the 
stories  ever  to  be  found  where  humanity  has  lived 
its  fitful  day  and  sang  of  life.  It  ran  in  this 
fashion: 

Upon  a  green  knoll  high  up  among  the  moun- 
tains it  was  the  custom  in  days  past  to  hold  at 
times  the  festivals  of  the  village  folks,  so  pleasant 
was  its  situation  and  so  smooth  its  sward  for  the 
feet  of  merry  dancers. 

Wilhelm  and  Pauline  \vere  betrothed  lovers. 

Here,  among  others,  they  came  to  celebrate  the 
flower-feast  or  Spring  festival,  which  was  held 
annually  the  first  of  May;  Wilhelm  in  all  his 
peasant  strength  and  blooming  manhood;  Paul- 
ine, fair  and  shy  as  a  violet,  in  her  robe  of  white, 
her  golden  hair  bound  by  wreaths  of  forget-me- 
not,  rivals  for  the  blue  of  her  eyes,  -while  her  man- 
ners were  as  fresh  and  as  charming  as  the  month 
itself. 

Both  were  as  happy  as  it  is  possible  for  young 
hearts  to  be  without  the  least  presentiment  of  evil 
to  cast  its  gloom  about  them,  or  to  warn  them  of 
the  strange  event  which  was  to  separate  them 
forever. 

Pauline  had  another  lover,  one,  however,  to  •whom 
she  gave  no  encouragement,  but  whose  persist- 
ance  in  his  suit  was  unbounded  and  untiring. 

His  name  was  Gaspard  Bach. 

Along  with  the  rest  he  came  to  the  fete  to  enjoy 
himself  and  to  have,  if  possible,  one  dance  at  least 
-with  the  beloved  of  his  heart. 


HENRIETTA.  137 

His  request  was  granted,  not,  however,  \vithout 
a  protest  from  Wilhelm,  who  was  loth  to  see  his 
bonnie  bride  in  the  arms  of  his  rival,  but  this  pro- 
test was  unheeded  by  the  laughing  girl,  who 
could  see  no  harm  in  a  lively  waltz  along  -with 
him  more  than  another,  so  away  they  whirled 
among  the  giddy  throng,  crushing  the  -wild 
flowers,  with  \vhich  the  ground  was  strewn  be- 
neath their  feet,  dancing  on  and  on,  for  a  long 
time  and  in  such  \vild  glee  that  Wilhelm  had 
barely  time  to  catch  \vhat  he  imagined  to  be  an 
imploring  look  from  the  girl  as  she  passed  him 
for  the  twentieth  time,  as  if  she  wished  to  be  re- 
leased from  the  strong  embrace  of  her  companion. 

He  determined  that  when  they  should  again 
come  around  after  their  tour  of  the  great  circle,  he 
would  interfere  in  Pauline's  behalf,  as  they  had 
already  out-danced  all  on  the  ground  and  "were  the 
soul  respondents  to  the  music. 

A  queer  and  fearful  fancy  came  to  him,  as  he 
gazed  after  them,  and  noted  the  strange,  fierce 
look  on  the  face  of  Jaspard,  along  -with  the  pale, 
agonized  one  on  that  of  Pauline. 

Great  God,  the  man  was  mad!  He  would  not 
release  her  from  his  grasp! 

His  discovery  came  too  late! 

At  the  side  opposite  to  him,  some  twenty-five 
yards  distant,  the  knoll  was  protected  from  the 
steep  declivity  overlooking  the  valley  below  by  a 
high  balustrade,  without  opening  or  gate  at  any 
point,  but  as  the  two  dancers,  with  lightning 
rapidity  neared  its  middle  part,  it  seemed  to  open 


138  HENRIETTA. 

as  if  by  magic  and  they  disappeared  among  the 
heavy  fir  trees  which  fringed  the  summit  be- 
hind it! 

With  a  cry  Wilhelm  started  for  the  point  fol- 
lowed by  a  crowd  of  young  people,  several  of 
whom,  along  with  himself,  had  noticed  their  odd 
looks  and  the  singular  exit  back  of  the  enclosure. 

There  was  no  trace  of  them  to  be  found,  and 
nothing  to  indicate  the  transpiration  of  the  start- 
ling event,  except  three  pickets  lying  upon  the 
ground,  as  if  they  had  fallen  away  for  them  at 
some  talismanic  \vord. 

They  all  hurried  to  the  mountain  path  leading 
down  among  the  rocks,  half  expecting,  yet  dread- 
ing, to  find  their  mangled  remains. 

Nothing  of  them  -was  found! 

Jaspard  and  Pauline  were  never  either  seen  or 
heard  of  again. 

A  few  thought  the  affair  was  a  plan  between 
them,  and  that  a  secret  path,  known  only  to  Jas- 
perd,  had  led  them  off  in  safety,  and  that  in  some 
distant  land  they  shared  each  the  other's  love. 

Others,  of  a  more  superstitious  cast,  supposed 
the  man  to  have  belonged  to  the  evil  one,  and, 
therefore  to  have  danced  away  to  the  infernal 
regions,  bearing  the  fair  bride  along  with  him. 

Wilhelm,  though,  was  confident  that  their  forms 
lay  bleaching  upon  one  of  the  many  crags  which 
jutted  out  from  the  surface  of  the  rocky  height, 
and  where  no  eye  but  that  of  the  eagle  or  vulture 
ever  saw;  and,  underneath  them,  he  was  often 
found  with  his  rude  harp  playing  some  sad  strain, 


HENRIETTA.  139 

as  if  to  the  departed  soul  of  his  darling,  for  whose 
sake  he  remained  unmarried  until  the  day  of 
death. 

His  belief  was  generally  shared,  so  that  the 
lonely  mountain  pass  grew  to  have  a  name  of 
being  haunted,  the  beautifully  rounded  hill  top 
was  no  longer  used  as  a  place  of  merry-making 
and  to  this  day,  the  guide  said,  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  avoid  it  by  night  when  the  phantom 
reelers  may  be  seen  flying  across  the  face  of  the 
cliff,  Jaspard  in  his  suit  of  brown,  with  a  \vhite 
kerchief  knotted  at  his  throat,  and  Pauline  in  her 
misty  dress  of  white,  with  her  ribbons  floating 
about  her,  just  as  they  appeared  when  last  seen." 

From  there  they  went  to  the  lake  of  Lucerne, 
and  spent  a  few  days  gliding  about  on  its  calm 
\vaters,  where  the  sky  or  flitting  cloud  is  for  ever 
mirrored,  and  where  at  night  the  golden  moon 
from  her  own  misty  ocean  finds  a  fitting  back- 
ground to  reflect  her  fair  form. 

Beautiful  Lucerne! 

Agnes  never  forgot  the  elevating  influence  of  its 
soft,  poetic  beauty,  nor  the  more  busy  scenes 
about  Geneva  to  \vhich  they  went  from  there, 
and  thence  across  to  Mount  Blanc,  through 
the  Grand  Alps,  and  back  toward  their  starting 
point. 

If  to  the  native  and  the  stranger  Paris  is  a  gem, 
so  also  are  its  environs;  with  vale  arid  champaign, 
decked  as  it  is  with  richly  cultivated  gardens, 
emerald  fields,  charming  villas,  and  superb 
chateaus. 


140  HENRIETTA. 

Versailles,  through  -which  the}"  passed,  brought 
to  the  mind  of  the  young  American  all  the  mem- 
ories of  a  time  when  the  royally  crowned  heads  of 
Burope  met  to  assist  in  the  political  baptism,  and 
thereby  give  assent  to  the  birth  of  the  new 
government  that  had  dawned  so  suddenly  upon 
the  world.  St.  Cloud,  which  they  took  in  circui- 
tously,  paid  for  the  extra  trouble  by  its  lonelj" 
grandeur,  and  the  mellowed  recollections  which 
it  brought  of  the  haughty  Emperor,  Napoleon  the 
First,  where,  with  his  Austrian  wife,  he  passed 
the  time  surrounded  by  his  Imperial  courtiers; 
-with  no  shade  allowed  to  trespass  upon  the  peace 
of  his  imperturable  nature  from  the  outer  world; 
unless  it  might  be,  that  the  iron  heart  in  his 
bosom  could  not  always  keep  off  the  sadly  beauti- 
ful and  ever  pleading  eyes  of  that  other  and  first 
-wedded  love,  his  much  wronged  Josephine. 

From  here  they  reached  Ville  d'  Avray,  a  lovely 
little  place  resting  under  the  shadow  of  the  Boise 
de  Marley,  where  the  Madame  proposed  spend- 
ing a  few  of  the  Autumn  months  along  with  a 
first  cousin  of  her's,  who  resided  here. 

Her  relative,  who,  like  herself,  was  middle-aged, 
received  her  with  joy  as  in  a  race  like  that  of 
theirs,  whose  family  tree  h-ad  borne  but  little 
fruit  and  that  mostly  too  frail  to  long  survive 
their  birth,  relatives  were  scarce. 

What  few  there  were  had  quite  an  appreciation 
for  one  another.  With  a  more  extensive  following 
of  blood  the  feeling  between  them  might  have 
been  somewhat  different. 


HENRIETTA.  141 

These  two  had  survived  the  shocks  and  \vrecks 
of  time,  with  no  more  of  a  showing  for  the  years 
in  the  face  of  Madame  Du  Boise  than  that  already 
described;  and  no  more  on  that  of  her  cousin  than 
was  indicated  by  a  few  white  streaks  here  and 
there  among  the  black  of  her  hair,  and  a  pucker 
of  crows  feet  beneath  her  eyes.  On  the  left  cheek 
quite  a  large  protuberance,  in  the  shape  of  a  wart, 
had  made  its  appearance  since  they  last  met. 

Warts  are  not  by  any  means  a  sign  of  age,  but, 
coming  as  this  did  with  her  ripening  years,  it 
seemed  to  be  in  her  case  of  one  of  the  dreaded 
prognosticators,  and,  as  ,from  its  centre  sprang 
four  or  five  hairs  of  a  third  of  an  inch  in  length, 
it  gave  to  her  face  a  grotesque  look,  indeed,  espe- 
cially as  the  hairs  were  never  either  extracted  or 
sheared,  under  the  impression,  no  doubt,  that,  like 
gray  hairs,  the  more  they  were  eradicated  the 
more  they  would  come. 

But  this  beauty  destroying  visitor  served  an  end. 

Madame  L'hommechapeau,  she  was  called,  by 
that  conception  of  courtesy  peculiar  to  the  French, 
who  consider  the  title  of  Madame  much  more 
respectable  for  ladies  past  a  certain  age,  than  the 
same  syllables  with  a  "selle"  appended. 

L'hommechapeau,  which,  under  the  pen  of  the 
translator  would  stand  out  as  "the  man's  hat," 
was  both  peculiar  and  long  to  speak,  so  that  many 
persons  not  well  acquainted  with  her,  spoke  of 
her  as  "the  woman  with  the  bearded  wart." 

It  was  necessary  that  she  be  well  known 
by  some  name,  as  she  was  quite  a  prominent 


142  HENRIETTA. 

person  in  a  business  point  of  view,  being  the  best 
maker  of  cheese  and  of  butter  in  the  village.  Brie 
and  Mananta  cheese  could  hold  no  parity;  \vhile 
she  held — and  so  did  her  neighbors — that  the 
Rochefort  and  Chombert  varieties,  though  com- 
ing a  little  nearer  to  the  standard,  were  abomi- 
nable in  comparison. 

She  had  a  lovely  home  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
village,  say  a  fourth  of  a  league  from  its  border, 
just  far  enough  away  to  be  somewhat  protected 
from  the  depredations  of  vagrant  urchins,  or  mis- 
chievous school  children,  who,  otherwise,  might 
cast  an  evil  eye  toward  her  small  orchard,  where 
the  purple  gooseberries  arid  scarlet  cherries 
tempted  the  robins  in  midsummer,  and  the  red 
and  russet  apples,  the  golden  pears  and  the  }rellow 
quinces,  showing  like  ro3ral  jewels  among  the 
green  of  the  leaves,  rivalled  the  perfection  of  form 
and  color  in  the  work  of  the  most  eiquisite  of 
artists. 

Then  there  were  the  nut  trees. 

A  great  wealth  was  in  the  food  producing 
qualities  of  those  garden  giants. 

Many  a  meal  was  made  from  the  kernal  of  the 
rich  brown  chestnut,  either  boiled  or  roasted,  and 
the  walnuts  served  as  a  desert,  cheap  because 
home  raised. 

Commonly  her  household  retinue  of  two  ser- 
vants for  domestic  use  and  her  two  workmen 
about  the  place  fared  plainly  enough,  on  thickened 
milk,  rye  bread,  cheese  and  a  few  vegetables;  but 
she  made  up  for  this  on  Sunda3^s,  holidays,  or 


HENRIETTA.  143 

'when  honored  by  a  visit  from  friends,  or,  as  at 
present,  a  relative. 

At  such  times  the  long  oaken  table  in  the  flag- 
paved  kitchen  \vith  its  dressing  of  pewter  plates 
and  horn  spoons,  was  deserted  for  the  polished 
mahogany  one  on  its  shinning  casters  in  the  tidy 
dining  room,  with  its  waxed  floor  and  curtained 
windows. 

The  finest  of  linen  cloths  was  laid,  the  old  heir- 
looms of  china,  of  glass,  and  of  silver  were 
brought  forward  in  the  way  of  dishes,  and  then 
their  filling  process  commenced. 

Ma  foil  as  her  countrymen  \vould  say,  what  a 
cook  was  she! 

How  appetizing  the  odor  which  arose  from  well 
scoured  pot,  kettle  and  pan,  as  she  lifted  the 
savory  mess  of  meat,  fish  and  fowl  from  each,  and 
how  fragrant  -was  the  steam  which  came  from 
tart,  pie  and  pudding.  And  what  cakes! 

Could  Berlin  or  Vienna  produce  their  equal? 

Or  was  the  table  of  that  redoubtable  sailor,  Sin- 
bad,  ever  graced  -with  better? 

Then  there  were  the  anchovies,  the  truffles,  the 
olives  and  the  foigras,  the  Carlsbad  \vaters  and 
the  fruits! 

Seville  oranges,  she  declared  to  be  the  best  in 
the  world,  and  grapes  from  sunny  Gallic  slopes 
the  only  ones  for  her,  and  when  she  must  have 
foreign  fruits,  why,  then  give  her  those  of  Weis- 
baden  or  of  Leghorn. 

The  scene  from  the  high-pitched  dormer  win- 
dows of  the  gothic  house  was  in  itself  a  poem  of 


144  HENRIETTA. 

quiet  pastoral  beauty,  with  its  long  sweep  of  hills 
running  westward  and  Parisward,  or  to  the  east. 
The  emerald  meadows  and  fields  studded  by 
clusters  of  oak  and  of  linden,  while  to  the  front  of 
the  building  the  lawn  fell  in  a  slope  to  a  willow- 
fringed  stream,  separating  it  from  the  shining 
turnpike. 

At  the  side  of  the  house  facing  the  east  was  the 
garden  of  vegetables  and  flowers.  Here,  in  the 
early  spring,  amidst  the  blustering  -winds  of 
March,  the  white  and  purple  crocus  pushed  its 
•way  through  the  cold  dark  soil  of  the  earth,  along 
with  its  sister — the  pasque  flower  of  France — the 
beautiful,  wool-stockinged,  lavender-hued  prairie 
flower,  of  America,  whose  blooms  the  children  so 
love  to  gather.  Then  a  little  later  the  yellow 
jonquils,  the  white  star  flowers,  the  grape  hya- 
cinth, with  its  tiny  globes  of  blue,  the  daffodil  and 
polyanthus,  the  peonies,  the  lillies,  the  lilacs, 
syringas  and  snow-balls;  all  keeping  up  their 
prime  until  they  meet  the  dahlias,  hollyhocks 
and  chrysanthemums  of  the  more  mature  months. 

Yet  there  were  the  beds  of  seedlings,  which  in 
their  flush,  had  been  one  mass  and  tangle  of  color, 
fair  and  varied  as  ever  the  golden-footed  Iris 
pressed  as  she  skimmed  along  her  rainbow  stair. 

But  now,  in  October,  the  most  of  the  flowers 
showed  but  faded  remnants  of  their  beauty  in  a 
few  late  pansies,  some  lark  spurs,  and  Agnes' 
favorite  flower,  the  little  star-like  elisia  sunk  in 
modest  retirement  among  its  mossy  leaves;  and 
these,  even,  \vore  a  desolated  look  among  the  dead 


HENRIETTA.  145 

and  withered  surroundings  and  overshadowed  by 
the  evergreen  foliage  of  the  myrtle,  the  holly  and 
the  fir. 

Xot  more  than  the  space  of  two  hundred  yards 
away  was  the  home  of  a  modern  Scheherazade,  so 
far  as  the  story-telling  ability  was  concerned. 

She,  a  girl  of  twenty-six,  wrote  for  nearly  all  of 
the  literary  papers  of  Paris;  one  in  Marseilles, 
another  at  Bordeaux,  besides  making  contribu- 
tions for  a  magazine.  Low,  indeed,  was  the  price 
of  her  \vorks. 

Ten  pence  a  column  was  the  usual  remunera- 
tion, but  by  dint  of  hard  labor,  she  managed  to 
to  support  herself  and  her  widowed  mother  quite 
comfortably. 

Marie,  Madame  L'hommechapeau's  maid  from 
Normandy,  in  her  \vhite  cap  and  sabots,  was  the 
gossip  who  told  Agnes  all  this  in  the  broken 
English  which  she  had  picked  up  -while  at  service 
in  the  Hotel  'd  Anglaise,  Paris. 

Agnes  was  much  interested  in  the  story  of  the 
youthful  literateur,  and  wished  very  much  for  a 
closer  acquaintance,  but  it  ended  where  it  com- 
menced, by  a  sight  of  Adele,  from  her  chamber 
window  as  she  wal'.ed  forward  and  back,  under 
the  linden  trees  in  front  of  her  dwelling  with  her 
gold  brown  hair  brushed  tightly  back  from  her 
pale  temples,  in  a  very  unfashionable  way. 

At  this  place  Agnes  for  the  first  time  met  for 
herself  a  lover. 

This  was  Guillaume,  the  sprightly,  dark-hued 
young  gardener,  who  took  care  of  the  grounds. 


146  HENRIETTA. 

He  was  extremely  kind  in  his  bearing  toward 
her,  culling  the  finest  apples,  the  sweetest  pears, 
and  forming  the  most  delicate  of  boquets  for  her 
benefit. 

After  the  evening  work  was  done,  he  \vould  take 
her,  along  \vith  Marie,  to  ride  behind  his  donkey, 
in  a  rickety  farm-cart,  over  the  graveled  way, 
under  the  thick  leaves  of  the  rowan  trees,  with 
their  clusters  of  berries  shining  like  great  sparks 
of  fire;  over  the  little  wooden  bridge  that  spanned 
the  stream  with  the  milky-green  of  the  ivy  leaves 
covering  its  ancient  butresses;  out  onto  the  shin- 
ing highway,  where  the  tall  lombardies  skirting 
its  sides,  cast  long  shadows  away  from  the  falling 
sun — like  living  creatures  who  flee  the  dying. 

Here  the  air  was  heavy  with  the  perfume  of 
orchards  and  the  scent  of  meadows,  both  lately 
stripped  of  the  last  mantle  of  autumn  grass. 

Ceres,  with  her  crown  of  silver,  was  surely  most 
favorable  to  this  part  of  the  land  of  St.  Louis,  or 
else  so  many  happy  peasant  homes,  rich  in  life's 
comforts,  could  not  look  out  from  so  many  bowery 
scenes  as  greeted  their  sight,  when  they  rode 
along  by  bits  of  woodland,  or  open  strath,  where 
the  thrush  was  singing  its  late  song,  and  the 
blackbird  was  swinging  to  the  music  of  his  scream- 
ing notes  among  the  stiff  water-flags  and  reeds. 

And  the  sky! 

How  it  circled  around  the  horizon  a  great  con- 
cave of  ethereal  blue,  and  as  night  came  on  how 
the  Pleadies  twinkled  and  flashed  like  electric 
lights,  seen  through  a  haze,  and  how  Orion  looked 


HENRIETTA.  147 

•down  as  an  armoured  giant,  while  Arcturus  in  the 
north,  the  constellation  of  Ursamajor,  and  the 
lode  star  vied  one  another  in  diamond-like  Bril- 
liancy with  Vesper  or  the  star  of  the  evening,  as 
she  gracefully  hung  above  the  sable  of  the  distant 
hills,  all  with  the  same  form  that  they  were  to  the 
«yes  of  those  loved  ones,  so  far  away  in  her  west- 
ern home! 

The  time  came  when  Madame  Du  Boise  found  it 
expedient  to  make  an  end  to  her  cousinly  visit, 
therefore  when  November,  with  its  chilling  winds, 
was  beginning  to  scatter  the  scarlet  and  yellow 
leaves  into  drifts  and  eddies  over  the  dark  ground 
and  a  necklace  of  icy  jewels  had  lightly  strung 
itself  along  the  water's  edge,  fair  and  delicate  as 
the  ornaments  of  a  queen;  they  left  the  thrifty 
homestead  beyond  Vile  de  Varley,  and  took  their 
Avay  back  to  the  metropolis,  and  Guillaume,  the 
gardener,  looked  after  them  as  the  vehicle  which 
bore  them  rolled  away,  a  gloom  upon  his  face  and 
a  sorrowful  look  in  his  eyes. 

She  was  the  only  woman  he  as  yet  had  loved, 
and  she  had  given  him  no  token  that  his  passion 
•was  returned,  nor  thrown  out  any  hopes  of  their 
ever  meeting  again.  Would  he  ever  forget  this 
first  sweet  dream  of  youth? 

Of  course  he  would,  like  the  majority  of  his 
kind,  take  to  himself  a  \vife,  in  all  likelihood  one 
more  suited  to  his  tastes  and  habits  of  life  than 
Agnes  could  have  been,  but  throughout  his  course 
there  would  come  times  when  a  shadow  would 
fall  across  his  memory,  and  a  hand  invisible  as 


148  HENRIETTA. 

the  zephyr  which  stirs  the  eolian  lute-strings  to 
music  \vould  vibrate  the  chords  of  his  heart  to  a 
saddened  strain;  for  first  love  is  never  altogether 
forgotton,  however  its  influence  may  be  deadened.. 
They  reached  the  borders  of  Paris  in  safety,  but 
here  one  of  those  accidents  occurred  which,  how- 
ever commonplace  they  may  be,  constitute  such 
an  element  in  the  chain  of  one's  life,  that  they 
seem  to  be  a  determined  agent,  to  work  out  the 
plans  of  existence. 

It  came,  about  all  through  the  carelessness  of 
a  luggage-man,  who  failed  to  put  the  great  trunks 
of  the  Madame  in  a  proper  position  upon  the 
top  of  the  hack,  which  they  had  engaged  to  take 
them  to  their  quarters.  In  consequence  of  this- 
event  of  care  it  fell  back  to  the  pavement 
with  so  great  a  force  that  its  two  plethoric 
sides  burst  open,  throwing  out  all  it  contained 
by  the  movement  in  a  confused  mass  at  its  own- 
er.'s  feet. 

Among  dresses,  laces,  scarfs,  feathers  and  other 
paraphernalia  of  the  female  toilet,  the  picture  also 
made  its  appearance. 

Madame  began  to  scold  furiously  in  French, 
calling  the  unlucky  workman  all  sorts  of  names 
appropriate  to  his  act  of  stupidity,  but  as  soon  as- 
she  caught  sight  of  the  picture  her  attention  was 
so  attracted,  that  he  escaped  the  remainder  of  her 
tongue's  vituperation,  much  to  his  relief. 

"  Mon  cher  petit  gargon,"  she  exclaimed 
with  feeling  as  she  continuous!}'  withdrew  it,  all 
unhurt,  from  the  pile,  and  in  seeming  forgetful- 


HENRIETTA.  149 

ness  of  her  surroundings,  pressed  kiss  of  kisses 
upon  the  surface  of  the  cold  canvass. 

An  elderly  gentleman  who  happened  to  be  pass- 
ing at  the  time,  stopped  a  moment  to  look  at  the 
demolished  trunks  and  the  \vreckage,  \vhen  he 
chanced  to  hear  the  words  and  to  note  her 
conduct. 

It  caused  him  to  give  a  more  scrutinizing  gaze 
than  he  might  otherwise  have  done  toward  her 
and  the  picture,  and  as  soon  as  his  eyes  rested 
upon  the  latter,  a  strange  and  wondering  look 
came  into  them.  He  pressed  forward  among  the 
small  knot  of  bystanders,  who  had  gathered 
around  the  scene,  and,  in  his  own  language, 
begged  leave  for  a  closer  view  of  that  which  she 
Deemed  to  hold  so  dear. 

She  could  not  well  refuse  a  request  so  civil, 
although  she  considered  his  curiosity  in  the  matter 
but  little  less  than  an  unwarranted  intrusion. 

She  cast  an  uneasy  glance  towards  his  tall 
figure,  as  he  stood  contemplating  the  painting  in 
her  hands. 

"May  I  be  allowed  to  ask,"  he  questioned  in 
tones  of  refined  modulation,  "whose  child  was  the 
original  of  this  and  by  what  means  you  came 
by  it?" 

Madame  flushed  scarlet  with  anger,  but  she 
subdued  her  emotion  sufficiently  to  reply  to  his 
question. 

"Monsieur,  I  am  not  able  to  tell  you  whose  the 
boy  may  have  been,  but  certainly  I  can  tell  you 
where,  and  of  whom  I  bought  it. 


150  HENRIETTA. 

"From  America  it  comes,  and  it  is  the  work  of 
a  friend  of  the  young  girl  here,  pointing  to  Agnesr 
but  I  have  forgotten  her  name." 

"Does  she  speak  French?"  he  asked. 

"But  indifferently,  that  is  quite  unintelligibly. 
You  could  not  understand  her  jargon.  These 
Americans  never  can  be  made  to  speak  our  grand 
speech,  so  that  one  can  know  what  they  are  say- 
ing." 

She  did  not  care  to  have  him  pry  any  more  into 
her  affairs  than  he  had  already  done,  therefore  she 
wished  to  thwart  him  in  any  attempt  at  a  conver- 
sation with  her  serving-maid;  somewhat  under- 
standing the  dialogue  between  them  and  not 
knowing  of  the  conservative  feeling  of  her  mis- 
tress, said  innocently,  "The  name  of  the  artist  i» 
Eldie  Jannaux." 

"Jannaux,"  he  repeated  after  her,  musingly, 
\vith  his  eyes  to  the  ground,  "Jannaux,  I  have 
heard  that  name  before.  It  is  decidedly  a  French 
name." 

The  woman  cast  a  greatly  annoyed  look  at  each 
of  them,  and  then  her  sharply  expressive  eyes 
said  to  the  girl  as  plainly  as  words  could  have 
done :  "  Young  lady,  hereafter  keep  your  lips  closed 
in  affairs  not  pertaining  to  yourself." 

Turning  to  the  man,  she  said,  "I  bought  the 
picture  because  I  got  it  at  the  low  rate  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  because  I  fancied  it  for  its  re- 
semblance to  a  child  I  once  knew,  that  is  all." 

"I,"  he  replied,  "once  had  a  dear  child,  singular- 
ly like  the  one  portrayed  here,  in  eyes,  features, 


HENRIETTA.  151 

color,  expression.  It  was  stolen  from  me,  but  I 
would  be  almost  willing  to  give  my  most  sacred 
oath,  that  if  this  is  not  the  actual  picture  it  was 
yet  taken  from  the  one  which  I  lost.  I  wish  you 
would  sell  it  to  me." 

"Sell  it?" 

"No,  Monsieur,  I  would  part  \vith  anything 
else  among  my  worldly  goods  rather  than  with 
it." 

The  man  looked  at  her  keenly,  but  avoided  an 
utterance  of  any  thought  which  might  have 
crossed  his  mind,  suggested  by  her  close  attach- 
ment to  the  painting. 

He  was  a  close  observer  and  student  of  the 
human  face,  and  of  its  varied  shades  of  character, 
so  that,  in  the  heavy  black  eyes  and  sharp  features 
he  saw  the  impression  of  a  spirit  that  would  go  a 
long  way  in  a  compromise  -where  money  was  the 
balancing  power  as  against  the  affections;  there- 
fore he  was  not  daunted  at  \vhat  seemed,  upon  a 
surface  view,  to  be  an  absolute  refusal  on  her  part. 

"I  will  give  you,"  he  said,  "five  hundred  francs 
for  it,  which  ough,t  to  be  a  fair  recompense  in  con- 
sideration for  what  you  paid  for  it." 

"Do  you  think  I  \vould  part  with  it  for  any  such 
price?"  she  asked  scornfully.  "I  am  not  the  fool  to- 
do  it,  I  assure  you." 

"Double  it  then,  if  you  will,"  said  the  man. 

"Not  for  the  double  of  it,  Monsieur." 

"Tripple  it  then." 

"Not  yet  for  the  triple." 

"Quadruple  it." 


152  HENRIETTA. 

"Not  for  double,  triple,  nor  quadruple,  will  I  be 
tempted,"  she  screamed  vehement!}". 

Still  she  looked  at  him  in  a  bewildered  sort  of 
way,  and  thought  that  he  must  certainly  be  a  very 
rich  man,  indeed,  to  make  offers  of  that  sort. 

"Come,  let  us  be  moving,"  she  said  to  Agnes, 
who,  after  the  telling  look  from  her  mistress,  had 
commenced  to  fix  up  the  broken  trunk  and  to  re- 
arrange the  things  in  order. 

"You  are  a  simpleton,  old  woman,"  said  a  man 
in  a  blouse,  who  was  one  among  the  growing 
crowd  attracted  by  the  loud  words  of  Madame. 
"I  have  a  cousin,  who  is  an  artist,  and  he  can  do 
much  finer  work  than  is  shown  in  a  daub  like 
that.  Ma  foil  -wouldn't  he  jump  at  an}-  such 
prices  as  has  been  offered  to  you  for  one  of  his 
paintings?" 

"Come,  woman,"  said  the  elderly  man,  "I  -will 
give  to  you  three  thousand  francs  for  the  picture 
and  not  one  sou  more.  Think  of  it,  as  compared 
with  the  sum  which  you  gave  for  it,  and  then 
give  me  your  decision." 

Not  yet  would  her  obduracy  give  way,  but  she 
said  to  him  aside,  that  she  would  consider  his 
bargain. 

He  took  from  his  pocket  a  card,  and  writing 
upon  it  the  \vords,  "Henri  de  Ivry,  Boulevardes 
des  Fontaines,  Rue  a  St.  Denis,"  handed  it  to  her. 

Then  he  drew  his  heavy  traveling  coat  about 
him,  and  with  a  white  and  jeweled  hand  gracefully 
lifted  his  hat  from  his  brow,  as  he  made  a  parting 
bow  to  herself  and  Agnes. 


HENRIETTA.  153 

The  act,  small  as  it  was,  revealed  him  in  a  new 
light,  as  the  sun  is  sometimes  suddenly  seen  by 
the  removal  of  a  small  cloud  from  its  surface;  for 
instead  of  the  well-to-do  tradesman  or  master 
mechanic  which  he  had  appeared  to  be,  the  high 
intellectual  forehead  and  nameless  air  of  the  cul- 
tured nobleman  was  seen. 

Madame  hailed  another  conveyance,  the  first 
having  left  them,  and  soon  the  now  filled  trunk, 
with  coils  of  rope  bound  about  it,  and  along  with 
themselves,  were  rolling  along  the  noisy  streets. 

"  He  is  certainly  a  gentleman,"  silently  solilo- 
quized the  little  \voman,  "and  how  strange  that  he 
should  have  taken  so  violent  a  fancy  to  my  child- 
picture?" 

Then  she  went  off  into  a  dreamy  reverie  which 
was  unbroken  until  they  reached  the  cottage. 

Here  they  found  everything  in  readiness  for 
their  arrival,  the  keepers,  Jacques  and  the  maid, 
having  been  apprised  of  it  by  letter. 

Madame  was  quite  pleased  at  the  appearance  of 
the  premises,  as  nothing  had  been  neglected. 

The  horse  and  phaeton  had  been  kept  in  good 
condition,  with  no  appearance  of  undue  usage 
during  her  absence;  the  vegetables  from  the 
small  garden  had  been  carefully  garnered  into  the 
cellar  for  future  use,  and  the  St.  Catherine  pears 
rested  in  their  golden  juice  like  as  many  balls  of 
crystal. 

Upon  an  examination  of  the  entire  premises 
from  cellar  to  attic,  she  declared  that  she  had 
been  a  most  fortunate  woman  in  her  selection  of 


154  HENRIETTA. 

servants.     Honest  and  efficient  in  a  high  degree, 
they  had  both  proved  themselves  to  be. 

Not  very  much  thought  had  she  given  toward 
the  man  who  had  made  the  brilliant  offer  for  her 
treasure. 

She  hung  it  upon  the  wall  of  the  parlor,  declar- 
ing that  he,  or  any  one,  must  be  a  madman  truly, 
to  think  for  a  moment  that  she  would  part  with  it 
for  any  amount  of  money. 

He,  it  \vould  seem,  had  made  an  overestimate  of 
her  character,  as  to  its  element  of  avarice.  He 
did  not  know  that  a  love,  which  is  certainly  the 
strongest  or  human  passions,  was  controlling  her 
heart  in  the  matter. 

He  was  under  the  conviction  that,  by  the  means 
stated,  she  had  gotten  hold  of  a  copy  of  his  pic- 
ture, and  for  that,  and  for  still  another  reason,  per- 
haps more  potent,  he  was  determined  to  possess 
it  at  any  price. 

That  the  owner  had  any  personal  connection 
with  it,  he  did  not  surmise. 

Madame  was  congratulating  herself  upon  spend- 
ing a  most  enjoyable  winter  season,  that  is  if  her 
health,  which  was  now  somewhat  delicate,  should 
so  improve  as  to  admit  of  it. 

She  proposed  any  amount  of  visits  to  theatres, 
concerts  and  other  places  of  entertainment  for 
herself  and  Agnes,  and,  perhaps,  she  told  her,  that 
during  the  Christmas  season  they  would  run 
down  to  Ville  de  Varley  to  see  her  cousin,  and 
where  she  said,  jestingly,  that  Agnes  mighrt 
again  see  her  rustic  lover. 


155 

There  is  an  adage  current  among  the  French 
people  which  says,  that  "No  one  knows  what 
hangs  at  the  end  of  his  nose,"  and  most  surely  the 
little  woman  with  the  long  appendage  of  that  sort 
was  no  exception  to  the  homely  aphorism. 

She  went  down  town,  after  the  fashion  of  one 
of  mother  Goose's  heros,  but  not  exactly  with  the 
same  intentions. 

In  this  case  it  was  to  buy  some  edibles  for  Polly, 
who,  like  herself,  was  somewhat  indisposed. 

While  shopping  in  one  of  the  principle  streets 
she  heard  the  unfortunate  news,  that  the  Bank 
dw  Commerce,  where  all  of  her  money  had  been 
deposited,  had  been  so  run  upon  by  its  patrons 
on  account  of  an  evil  report  which  had  got  into 
circulation  as  to  its  liabilities,  that  it  had  been 
compelled  to  close  its  doors. 

She  refused  to  believe  the  tale  at  first,  thinking 
it  to  be  but  idle  gossip,  but  upon  investigation 
she  found  it  to  be  correct  and,  also,  that  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  was  all  that  might  be  expected 
by  the  depositors. 

Sorrowful  enough  was  such  news  to  her,  as  it 
was  to  all  in  her  situation. 

To  be  sure,  she  still  had  the  cottage,  but  what 
was  that  as  a  means  of  subsistance?  "One  can- 
not eat  the  four  walls,"  she  mused,  "and  how  ever 
will  I  be  able  to  send  Agnes  back  to  her  home?" 

This  question  bothered  her  more  than  all  of  the 
rest. 

She  felt  physically  unable  to  resume,  at  present, 
at  least,  her  business  as  an  organizer  of  theatrical 


156  HENRIETTA. 

or  operatic  entertainments,  or  to  do  anything  else 
whereb}1-  a  living  might  be  gotten. 

As  to  setting  the  girl  adrift  to  shift  for  herself, 
in  a  strange  land  of  whose  language  she  knew 
but  little,  why,  certainly,  she  could  not  do  that. 

All  these  things  she  thought  about  as  Jacques 
drove  her  home  in  the  phaeton. 

Arrived  there,  her  first  impulse  was  to  tell 
Agnes,  but  upon  further  consideration  she  thought 
it  best  to  \vait  for  a  few  days;  and  perhaps  by  that 
time  she  might  hear  of  a  better  realizement  from 
her  investment,  than  at  first  had  been  anticipated. 

Time  passed  and  no  better  arrangement  could 
be  made,  by  the  bank  officials,  and  she  was 
compelled  to  yield  to  the  inevitable. 

During  the  time  though,  she  came  to  a  conclu- 
sive resolution  in  case  of  the  worst.  It  was  to  sell 
the  picture. 

Then  she  told  Agnes  all  about  her  trouble,  and 
her  determination,  saying,  that  by  this  means  she 
might  be  enabled — through  strict  economy — to 
live  and  to  send  her  home,  when  desirable. 

She  said  no  more  on  the  subject  then,  but  one 
would  not  need  to  look  close  at  the  pale,  pinched 
features  of  her  face,  and  the  dark  circles  about 
her  eyes,  to  tell  what  a  secret  agony  had  been 
hers  to  make  the  sacrifice. 

After  the  sale  should  be  consummated,  she 
meant  to  discharge  both  Jacques  and  the  maid, 
and  to  supply  their  place  by  the  labor  of  herself 
and  Agnes. 

Together,  then,  with  the  latter  and  the  picture, 


IlKXKIETTA.  157 

she  set  off  in  the  phaeton,  Jacques  as  driver,  to 
search  for  the  designated  residence  on  the  St. 
Denis  road. 

They  came  to  it  in  a  short  time,  as  it  lay  not 
more  than  a  few  miles  from  the  city  confines, 
where  no  inquiry  was  necessary,  as  the  ample 
lawn,  with  its  two  superb  fountains,  casting  up 
their  silvery  spray  under  the  twin  rows  of  poplars 
and  of  beech  was  a  fair  indication  of  the  direc- 
tions given  them  by  the  owner. 

A  porter's  lodge  stood  in  one  corner  of  the 
shaded  square,  and  from  it  a  graveled  road  led  up 
a  distance  of  two  hundred  paces  or  more  to  where 
the  building  stood. 

The  house  was  quite  modern,  certainly  not 
built  after  the  fashon  of  a  castle,  and  why  it  should 
be  called  one  was  more  than  Madame  Du  Boise 
could  comprehend.  She  was  not  aware  that  its 
recent  erection  had  been  011  the  site  of  a  vrry 
ancient  military  kind  of  place,  dating  back  to 
medieval  times,  and  that  custom  had  caused  its 
name  to  descend  to  the  new  house. 

The  porter  at  the  lodge  was  at  first  somewhat 
chary  as  to  permitting  them  an  entrance,  but,  upon 
a  display  of  his  master's  card,  his  objections  were 
withdrawn  and  they  were  allowed  to  proceed  upon 
their  way. 

The  place  was  a  great  square,  formed  of  four 
walls  of  the  reddest  of  brick,  in  trimmings  of  drab, 
a  mansard  roof,  four  great  bay  windows,  two  in 
a  tier,  on  either  side  of  the  broad  doorway  at  the 
head  of  the  marble  steps.  An  open  piazza  ran  the 


158  HENRIETTA. 

entire  length  of  the  building  on  either  side,  upon 
\vhich  doors  and  windows  opened. 

This  was  all  that  it  contained  in  the  way  of 
architectural  adornment. 

Of  towers,  turrets,  oriels  and  porches  it  was 
utterly  destitute. 

But  the  grounds  about  it  were  magnificent, 

The  lawn  itself,  with  its  boulevarded  frame,  was 
an  emerald  gem  in  the  spring  and  summer,  and 
even  now  it  looked  fine  back  of  the  costal  foun- 
tains with  the  brown  autumnal  leaves  blowing 
over  its  surface.  Past  this,  to  the  right  of  the 
building,  was  the  flower  garden  in  circles  and 
parteres,  and  to  the  left  side  the  greenery  and  hot 
beds  where  blooming  exotics  and  ripening  fruit  of 
the  tropics  were  seen. 

Back  of  the  house  and  its  contiguous  buildings, 
as  far  as  the  vision  extended,  lay  the  rich  farm 
lands  of  the  chateau,  in  gently  swelling  upland 
and  meadow,  in  park  and  in  woodland. 

The  room  into  which  they  were  ushered  by  a 
very  polite  waiting-man  in  a  livery  of  red  and 
drab — like  the  outside  of  the  house — was  a  small 
one  to  the  left,  opening  upon  one  of  the  bay 
windows. 

It  seemed  to  be  a  kind  of  reception  room  for 
temporary  callers,  and  was  covered  with  a  fine 
Persian  carpet,  with  chairs  in  purple  velvet,  and 
portieres  at  the  windows  of  scarlet  damask, 
wrought  in  oriental  designs  with  thread  of  gold. 

The  walls  were  of  paper  in  a  delicate  pink,  with 
clusters  of  silver  frosted  leaves,  and  sprays  of  ivy. 


HENRIETTA.  159 

A  superb  jardiriier  of  fine  workmanship  stood 
in  the  center  of  the  bay  window,  with  a  mass  of 
delicate  cream-blossomed  vines  falling  all  over 
it  and  sending  their  sweet  fragrance  throughout 
the  room. 

From  this  apartment  another  was  visible 
through  the  half  open  folding  doors,  evidently  a 
gentleman's  private  sitting  room,  to  judge  from 
what  was  to  be  seen  in  the  way  of  cigar  holders, 
gilded  cuspidors  and  lounging  seats. 

In  that  room  a  fire  of  sea-coal  was  brightly 
burning  in  its  burnished  grate,  and  an  easy  chair 
drawn  near  to  it  was  vacant  but  spoke  of  a  recent 
occupancy.  This  was  indeed  the  room  where  the 
owner  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  time,  as  it  con- 
tained his  library,  and  might  at  any  minute  be, 
by  the  wide  doors,  thrown  into  one  with  the  front 
apartment.  He  was  not  there  now,  but  upon  the 
reception  of  Madame's  card  he  soon  made  his  ap- 
pearance from  a  side  door. 

His  suit  of  black  displayed  his  fine  figure  to 
perfection,  and  his  dark  hair  and  mustache  was 
scarce  what  one  might  look  for  in  a  man  of 
his  age,  seventy-five  being  the  number  of  his 
years. 

A  pleased  expression  passed  over  his  fine 
features  as  he  extended  his  hand  first  to  Madame 
Du  Boise,  and  then  to  Agnes. 

"I  see,"  he  said  complaisently,  "that  you  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  find  me.  May  I  hope  that 
you  have  accepted  my  proposal  as  to  the  sale?" 
he  asked,  coming  to  business  at  once. 


160  HENRIETTA. 

He  was  nearly  certain  of  as  much,  as  from  his 
dressing  room  in  an  upper  story,  he  had  looked 
down  upon  Jacques  sitting  patiently  in  the 
pheatoii,  with  the  object  of  his  wish  in  a  cover- 
ing of  muslin  leaning  beside  him. 

"  Yes,"  said  Madame  Du  Boise, "  I  have  met  with  a 
severe  loss  since  I  saw  you.  Very  severe  indeed 
— in  a  financial  way — otherwise  I  assure  }'ou, 
Monsieur,  that  I  should  never  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  hunt  you  up." 

Then  she  told  him  all  about  the  closure  of  the 
bank,  a  circumstance  which  he  had  already  heard 
through  his  paper  of  the  consequent  disappear- 
ance of  her  small  fortune,  and  her  compulsion  to 
accede  to  his  proposal. 

At  the  conclusion  Monsieur  rang  for  a  servant 
and  ordered  coffee,  cakes  fruit,  and  wine,  and 
when  these  were  brought  for  his  visitors,  he 
went  out  to  have  the  picture  removed  to  the 
room. 

There  seemed  to  be  some  talismanic  effect  about 
the  work  of  the  humble  American  artist,  who 
really  knew  nothing  of  her  art  but  that  which 
nature  had  taught  her;  as  the  dignified  aristocrat, 
when  the  casing  had  been  removed,  evinced 
almost  as  much  emotion  at  sight  of  it  as  the  plain 
plebian  woman  had  ever  done  upon  a  like  contem- 
plation. 

True,  he  did  not  shower  kisses  of  affection  upon 
it,  for  men  are  seldom  so  demonstrative  of  their 
feelings;  but  the  look  of  admiration  with  which 
he  regarded,  mingled,  too,  with  a  deeper  emotion, 


HENRIETTA.  161 

was  a  sufficient  warrant  that  his  heart  was  stirred 
in  no  ordina^  \vay. 

When  the  money  came  to  be  paid  there  was  a 
scene. 

Madame  refused  to  touch  it. 

"I  cannot  part  with  the  picture,"  she  said,  pas- 
sionately, "it  would  kill  me,  it  is  all  I  have  in  the 
world  to  love!"  and  she  arose  to  her  feet  as  if  to 
take  it  away  with  her. 

"Calm  yourself,"  said  De  Ivry,  sternly,  as  he 
gently  pushed  her  back  into  her  seat.  "Are  you 
mad?  What  is  it  to  you,  a  mere  fancied  resem- 
blance, as  you  say,  to  a  child  of  a  friend,  that  you 
should  so  care  for  its  retention?" 

"And  what  is  it  to  you?"  she  demanded,  "that 
you  should  so  much  wish  for  its  possession?" 

"It  is  the  likeness  of  by  boyhood's  home,  as  well 
as  that  of  my  ancestors  for  many  generations," 
he  said.  "There — pointing  to  the  canvass — is  the 
green  lawn  upon  which  I  have  played,  the  old 
trees,  the  fair  flowers  and  the  grand  castle,  just  as 
I  remember  them.  The  old  home  is  no  more,  it 
was  destroyed  during  the  siege." 

"It  is  not  the  original,  but  it  is  better.  It  is  \vell 
executed,  I  say,  and  the  painter,  be  she  who  she 
may,  under  a  good  developing  process  \vould  be 
able  to  work  wonders  in  her  line." 

"But  the  boy?"  cried  the  woman, excitedly,  "I 
care  nothing  for  the  scenery,  tell  me  only  of  the 
boy.  Whose  child  is  he?" 

"Oh  yes,  the  boy,  I  was  just  about  to  speak  of 
him." 


162  HENRIETTA. 

He  is  also  to  me  much  the  dearest  object  of  all. 
He  is  my  own  son,  or  the  orginal  was,  rather, 
Victor  De  Ivry." 

At  the  name  of  Victor  the  woman  started. 

The  old  feeling  that  had  came  upon  her  when 
first  she  met  this  man  that,  as  in  a  dream  she  had 
seen  either  him  or  some  one  like  him  before,  came 
to  her  in  an  intensified  form. 

A  suspicion  flashed  upon  her  mind. 

Then  she  made  a  mental  determination  to  tell 
him  all  of  the  truth  concerning  her  life,  let  the 
consequences  be  what  they  might. 

"And  I,"  she  addressed  him  again,  "have  a 
claim  of  the  same  sort.  The  picture  is  the  exact 
likeness,  not  of  the  child  of  a  friend,  but  that  of 
my  own  child." 

"Your  child?"  he  asked,  incredulously,  looking 
at  her  from  head  to  foot. 

"How  could  a  creature  of  her  kind  ever  be 
mother  to  a  child  like  this?"  was  his  mental 
query. 

He  did  not  know  of  the  change  that  time  had 
•wrought  in  the  woman,  nor  in  the  years  fled  that 
she  might  have  laid  claim  to  some  beauty  at  least, 
after  her  grisette  style.  Neither  did  he  know  that 
little  of  her  blood  had  been  traceable  in  her  son, 
he  was  all  his  father. 

"Your  child?"  he  asked  sharply,  all  the  suavity  of 
his  former  manner  gone,  and  in  its  place  the  com- 
manding voice  of  a  superior  addressing  what 
might  have  been  his  meniel,  or  a  beggar,  solicit- 
ing alms  at  his  hand.  All  the  difference  of  their 


HENRIETTA.  163 

respective  positions,  socially,  was  clear!}'  express- 
ed in  his  way  of  saying  the  two  words,  as  only  it 
can  be  expressed  by  those  in  whose  veins  flow  the 
blood  of  generations  who  have  been  accustomed 
to  hold  themselves  apart,  as  of  superior  clay,  to 
the  mass  of  their  fellow  mortals. 

Madame  Du  Boise  was  no  fool  and  not  so  easily 
intimidated  as  he  probably  expected,  so  she  replied 
straightforwardly;  "yes,  my  child." 

"And  who,  then,  was  its  father?"  he  interro- 
gated, pointedly. 

"His  father  was,  as  I  claim,  my  husband, 
although  he  married  me  under  the  name  of  Victor 
Du  Boise,  which  I  afterwards  learned  was  an 
assumed  one.  His  real  name  I  never  learned,  but 
I  do  know  that  whoever  his  family  are,  they  are 
of  the  aristocracy  of  France." 

"He  left  me  just  four  months  from  the  date  of 
our  marriage,  twenty-eight  years  ago,  without 
saying  a  \vord,  except  to  press  a  sum  of  money 
into  my  hand  as  he  was  leaving;  bidding  me  at 
the  time  to  use  it  carefully.  I  afterward  received 
a  letter  from  him,  dated  at  Lyons,  in  which  he 
told  me  of  the  fraud  which  he  had  practiced  upon 
me,  as  to  his  name,  and  that  the  marriage  was  in- 
valid; and  as  he  was  about  to  leave  France  I 
would  see  him  no  more." 

"  Six  months  after  my  babe  was  born,  a  beauti- 
ful boy,  and  I  called  him  Victor,  after  his  father, 
for,  Monsieur,  they  \vere  as  like  as  pea  is  to  pea  or 
cherry  is  to  cherry." 

"O  such   a   handsome   boy,  Monsieur!  with   his 


164  HENRIETTA. 

father's  noble  head  and  forehead,  his  j 03-011  s  blue 
C3Tes  and  light  curling  hair!" 

"My  money  lasted  me  until  ni3T  child  was  able 
to  walk  and  then  it  gave  out,  and  I  was  necessi- 
tated to  cast  about  for  some  sort  of  work,  as  a 
means  of  subsistance  for  n^self  and  bo3T.  I  could 
have  gone  back  to  the  factory  whence  Victor  had 
taken  me,  but  that  would  have  been  the  means  of 
a  dail3T  separation  from  ir^  darling,  and  I  could 
not  endure  the  thought  of  that,  so  I  sewed, 
washed,  and  did  an3rthing  that  was  honest,  so 
that  I  might  keep  him  b\T  me." 

"I  never  again  cared  to  receive  the  attention  of 
any  man.  In  truth  I  still  loved  Victor,  notwith- 
standing his  cruel  treatment,  and  cherished  a  hope 
that  he  would  some  da3~  relent  and  return  to  me. 
I  was  sure  that  he  would,  had  he  but  a  glimpse  of 
our  boiinie  boy,  for  how,  I  argued,  could  he  resist 
loving  an3'thing  so  like  himself?" 

"Well,  the  years  went  b3T  until  little  Victor  was 
five  3Tears  old,  then  he  caught  a  malignant  fever 
that  was  raging  in  the  neighborhood  and  in  three 
da3Ts  I  was  obliged  to  lay  his  idolized  form  in 
the  ground." 

"He  is  burried  in  one  of  the  cemeteries  of  Parisr 
and  I  struggled  hard  to  have  him  laid  awa\T  as 
decently  as  possible." 

"After  this,  I,  still  a  very  3Toung  woman,  attend- 
ed a  night  school,  where  I  obtained  the  rudiments 
of  the  education  which  I  have  since  built  up,  and 
then  for  awhile  I  was  on  the  stage;  until  I  com- 
menced to  organize  and  to  drill  troupes  on  my 


HENRIETTA.  165 

own  account.  In  this  way  I  have  traveled  over 
most  of  the  United  States  of  America;  and  it  was 
there — as  I  have  before  said — that  I  bought  the 
painting  so  strangely  like  my  boy,  and  there  I 
also  engaged  the  services  of  this  young  girl." 

"  Since  the  days  of  my  desertion  I  have  visited 
many  clairvoyants,  fortune-readers  and  me- 
diums, who  tell  me  that  Victor,  my  husband,  as 
I  claim  him  to  be,  is  dead.  I  instinctively  know 
that  he  is." 

"Yes,  he  is  dead,"  mechanical^  said  De  Jnry,  all 
the  tone  of  hauteur  gone  out  of  his  voice,  and  an 
ashy  hue  settled  upon  his  face. 

"He  was  my  son,  and  he  died  in  the  old  castle 
at  Auvignon." 

"He  came  home  to  me  twenty-five  j^ears  ago  from 
South  America,  ill  and  dying,  so  that  in  three 
months  time  from  his  arrival  I  laid  his  bod}T  by 
the  side  of  his  long  dead  mother  in  the  tomb  of 
our  fathers." 

"He  was  the  only  son  that  God  had  given  me, 
and  to  think  that  such  infamy  as  this  should 
come  to  me  now!  I  knew  that  his  life  had  been 
broken  by  what  is  considered  pardonable  dissipa- 
tion in  the  young,  but  that  he  had  departed  from 
the  morality  of  his  house  in  this  wretched  man- 
ner, I  had  110  thought!  " 

"You  ma^"  be  misled  as  to  his  identity,"  sug- 
gested Madame  Boise. 

"No,  I  am  correct,"  said  he.  "There  is  another 
link  in  the  chain  of  evidence,  indeed,  a  most 
powerful  one,  which  I  have  not  yet  mentioned." 


166  HENRIETTA. 

"I  had,  besides  Victor,  an  only  daughter,  Adele, 
She  eloped  with  a  miserable  artist,  who  had  been 
engaged  at  the  castle  to  retouch  some  old  paint- 
ings. His  name  was  Jannaux,  and  for  some  rea- 
son they  carried  away  with  them  the  picture  of 
the  old  home  and  of  her  brother,  as  a  memento,  I 
suppose,  of  the  place  she  was  so  basely  to  desert. 
I  never  afterward  heard  of  them,  farther  than  that 
they  had  settled  somewhere  in  America — in  Can- 
ada, I  think — so  that  I  am  almost  certain  that  the 
young  artist  who  painted  this  one  is  my  grand- 
daughter, named  after  her  grandmother,  my  dead 
wife,  Eldie." 

"  You  see,"  he  went  on,  with  a  sardonic  smile, 
"that  the  conduct  of  my  two  children  has  proven 
the  fact  that  good  blood  and  noble  surroundings 
are  no  barrier  against  the  sins  of  humanity.  They 
have  been  no  blessing  to  me.  Many  a  beggar's 
offspring  have  been  full  dutiful  to  him." 

"To  be  sure,  you  must  be  well  enough  skilled, 
with  your  intelligence  in  the  laws  of  Roman  Cath- 
olic countries,  to  know  that  your  marriage  with 
my  son,  as  he  himself  told,  cannot  be  considered 
legal,  as  by  the  Council  of  Trent  clandestine 
unions  are  to  be  void  and  invalid." 

"I  am  no  Roman  Catholic,"  she  replied,  rising 
to  her  feet  again,  in  her  anger,  "and  I  do  claim  to 
be  the  true  wife  of  Victor.  I  am  no  wanton,  I  can 
tell  you,  and  my  child  was  born  without 
taint.  He  was  all  right,  I  say.  I  will  tell  it  to 
the  world,  my  darling  little  Victor  was  all 
right." 


HENRIETTA.  167 

As  if  overcome  by  her  excitement,  she  sank 
back  to  her  chair. 

The  old  man  took  two  or  three  rapid  turns 
about  the  room  and  then  paused  before  her. 

"Neither  am  I  a  Roman  Catholic,"  he  said. 
"The  current  of  the  martyrs  of  Languedoc  flows 
through  my  heart.  I  have,  however,  thrown 
away  much  of  their  extraneous  folly.  I  no  longer 
believe  in  the  barbarous  creed  of  the  elect  and 
nonelect  by  irrevocable  doom." 

"You  say  that  you  are  no  wanton,  and  that  your 
child  was  born  all  right.  In  the  name  of  heaven, 
woman,  are  you  superstitious  enough  to  believe 
that  God  ever  sends  an  immortal  soul  here  in  any 
other  way,  and  do  you  believe  that  you  or  it 
should  be  called  by  any  name  of  infamy  for  any 
act  or  circumstance,  when  thousands  of  men  all 
over  the  world  are  openly  transgressing  the  sev- 
enth commandment,  and  yet  go  free  of  everything 
that  might  cause  social  ostracism? 

"  There  is  where  I  take  issue  with  our  so-called 
civilization.  Women  are  considered,  theoretically 
at  least,  as  being  the  weaker  of  the  two  sexes  only 
where  passion  is  concerned,  and  here,  if  she  fail 
to  be  a  Judith  or  a  Susannah,  she  must  hear  all 
sounds  from  Bbal,  or  the  mount  of  cursing,  for- 
ever, so  far  as  this  life  goes. 

"Calverism  or  Roman  Catholicism,  in  the  gra- 
ciousness  of  Christian  charity— what  a  burlesque 
on  the  name! — will  allow  herself  and  her  innocent 
child  a  loophole  whereby,  with  due  repentance 
and  a  proper  humiliation,  through  their  soujourn 


168  HENRIETTA. 

here,  they  ma}',  perchance,  get  into  the  home  of 
the  blessed  after  death." 

Madame  Du  Boise  was  surprised,  thunderstruck 
almost,  to  hear  words  of  this  sort  coming  from  the 
lips  of  this  stateHT  aristocrat,  who,  despite  his 
ultra  views,  was  politically  a  legitimist  of  the 
most  pronounced  type.  For  republicanism — so- 
called — he  had  no  use. 

Gambetta  had  been  to  him  but  a  vulgar  dema- 
gogue, Thiers,  Grev}T,  Carnot,  but  political  up- 
starts, without  the  principles  of  the  cause  they 
espoused. 

"They  have,"  was  his  comment,  "all  the  incon- 
sistency of  their  American  brethren,  who  built  up 
a  stupendous  slave  mart  under  a  government 
whose  shibboleth  was  human  equality  !  " 

The  strain  upon  the  nerve  system  of  Madame 
Boise  had  been  so  intense  during  this  interview 
that  she  suddenly  became  quite  ill,  so  ill,  indeed, 
that  there  was  no  possibility  of  her  being  able  to 
leave  the  mansion  that  day. 

For  this  reason  Monsieur  de  Jury  dismissed 
Jacques  from  the  place,  bidding  him  to  come  out 
again  on  the  morrow. 

Then  Madame  Boise  was  assisted  by  a  serving- 
woman  to  an  appartment  up  stairs,  where  every 
attention  was  given  her. 

When  the  next  day  arrived  she  was  no  better 
but  worse,  so  that  Jacques  was  the  second  time 
sent  away  without  her,  and  Monsieur  de  Jury 
,  deemed  it  best  to  call  a  physician. 

Meantime  he  ran  over  to  Cambiensis,  a  village 


HENRIETTA.  169 

twenty  miles  from  Paris,  and  \vhere,  through 
Agnes,  he  learned  from  the  sick  woman,  that  she 
had  been  married  by  a  clergyman  whose  name 
she  did  not  know.  Agnes  went  to  Paris  to  see 
about  the  cottage  and  to  make  arrangements  for 
the  two  servants  to  stay  there  until  the  convales- 
cence of  their  mistress  Would  permit  her  return. 

In  a  place  no  larger  than  Cambriensis,  where 
changes  were  few,  every  clergyman  for  many 
years  back  had  remained  in  the  place,  but  none  of 
them  remembered  having  married  any  one  by  the 
name  of  Boise,  neither  was  any  record  of  such 
marriage  to  be  found  in  the  church  books.  From 
this  De  Ivry  suspicioned  that  in  all  likelihood  the 
entire  affair,  minister  and  all,  was  fictitious,  "for," 
he  argued,  "if  my  son  could  perpetrate  one-half 
of  a  base  deed,  why  not  all  ?" 

His  feelings  had  undergone  quite  a  revolution 
in  regard  to  the  possession  of  the  picture,  since 
the  recent  unfolding  of  this  phase  of  his  son's 
character.  He  was  no  more.  Yet  his  father's 
intense  nature  could  not  contemplate  a  memory 
of  him  without  some  abatement  of  affection. 
Kven  parental  love  is  blunted  by  too  rough  treat- 
ment. 

With  the  thought  that  perhaps  a  present  of  it 
might  prove  a  balm  of  healing  to  her  who  seemed 
so  much  to  wish  for  it,  he,  accompanied  by  Agnes, 
went  to  her  room  and  made  a  giving  up  of 
it  in  her  favor,  allowing  her  to  retain  its  price 
also. 

These  \vere  dreary  days  for  the  girl. 


170  HENRIETTA. 

Madame  was  imperious  in  her  demand  to  have 
her  constantly  by  her  side. 

The  room  was  pleasant  enough,  but  a  continu- 
ous waiting  upon  an  invalid  is  irksome  at  best, 
and  how  much  more  irksome  to  her  to  whom  the 
service  had  never  before  fallen? 

There  came  times  of  release,  though,  when  the 
sick  woman  slept,  or  could,  by  persuasion,  be 
lenient  enough  to  allow  another  to  take  her  place. 
Then  she  would  run  down  to  the  greenery,  with 
its  vines,  its  shrubs,  its  palms  and  ferns,  or  the 
conservatory  where  everything  was  a  mass  of 
bloom,  and  -where  the  species  of  orchid  sobrolia 
and  odontoglassa,  \vith  their  butterfly  forms,  were 
so  charming. 

How  she  did  -wish  that  Robert  Orme  could  share 
\vith  her  in  an  admiration  of  their  airy  grace! 

Then,  again,  she  would  ramble  over  the  oddly 
winding  paths  of  the  flower  garden,  with  its 
precise,  artificial  arrangement,  but  -which,  to  her, 
was  not  half  so  enchanting  as  the  picturesque  old 
garden  at  Ville-de-Varley,  just  as  the  poet  who 
becomes  lost  in  the  lofty  abstractions  of  thought, 
is  not  so  sweet  as  he  who  keeps  close  to  nature's 
simplicity. 

The  house  was  a  pleasing  study  to  her.  She 
had  never  before  \vitnessed  anything  nearly  so 
grand  as  the  great  parlor,  \vith  its  corbels  and 
casings  of  \vood  of  Mexico,  its  velvet-lined  -walls 
of  gold  and  crimson,  and  its  mantle  of  ebony 
marble.  Was  ever  carpet  more  brilliant  hued, 
were  ever  chairs  more  soft  and  yielding?  And  the 


HENRIETTA.  171 

curtains  which  draped  the  windows.  There  was 
surely  a  fortune  in  the  fine  Mechlin  lace  and  the 
heavy  embroidery  which  composed  them  she  was 
sure. 

Then  there  was  the  picture  gallery,  with  many 
a  fine  old  painting  in  all  the  rich  coloring  of  a 
Rubens  or  a  Titian,  the  grace  of  a  Raphael  and 
the  mingling  lights  and  shades  of  a  Rembrandt, 
together  -with  portraits  of  the  De  Ivrys'  of  many 
generations. 

The  armory,  too,  was  to  be  seen,  with  its  collec- 
tion of  blunderbusses,  spears,  lances,  swords,  and 
armor  of  ring  and  of  plate,  -with  plumeless  hel- 
mets and  broken  shields. 

The  family  coats  of  arms,  with  their  varied 
devices,  was  also  here,  in  eagles,  falcons,  flowers, 
fruits,  and  grains,  and  one — a  silver  lion,  rampant 
on  a  field  of  blue — had  the  faded  and  blurred 
motto,  "  Qui  voulait  ejccelle,"  which,  by  the  aid 
of  her  book  of  French,  she  was  able  to  translate, 
^'Who,  wishes  excels;"  and  the  pictorial  ensign 
meant  that  one  must  have  the  wish  with  all  the 
force  of  a  roused  lion,  in  order  to  obtain  the  de- 
sired excellence. 

Sometimes  Monsieur  De  Ivry  was  kind  enough 
to  take  her  for  a  drive  in  his  fine  carriage  all 
about  the  plantation,  or  through  the  dripping 
park,  where  bird  music  was  no  longer  heard,  only 
the  sigh  of  the  breeze  or  the  rush  of  the  heavy 
wind  as  they  swept  along  the  leafless  branches; 
and  under  foot  no  living  tiling  to  be  seen  but 
patches  of  green  moss  or  of  whitened  lichen 


172  HENRIETTA. 

among  the  wreaths  of  dead  leaves;  or  they  \vould 
take  the  broad,  smooth  road  toward  St.  Denis,  so- 
famed  for  its  flowers,  its  fountains,  and  its  beau- 
tiful homesites. 

The  old  gentleman  was  very  kind  to  her. 

He  had  noticed  her  assiduous  and  uncomplain- 
ing attentions  toward  Madame  Boise,  and  to  him 
this  alone  was  a  source  of  admiration.  She  was  a 
good  girl,  he  was  sure,  and,  besides,  the  sick 
•woman  herself  had  spoken  warmly  in  her  praise, 
as  to  her  self-sacrificing  devotion  for  her  parents. 

But  all  of  his  kindness,  all  of  the  fair  Gallic 
scenes,  and  her  grand  surrounding  could  not,  at 
times,  prevent  a  feeling  of  weary  unrest  from 
coming  upon  her  as  she  thought  of  her  humble 
friends  across  seas;  and  of  all  the  dear  ones  there;, 
ending  always  in  a  violent  spell  of  home-sickness,. 
and  a  wish  that  she  might  be  able  to  see  Madame 
Boise  well  enough  to  dispense  with  her  services 
arid  to  allow  of  her  departure  to  America. 


HENRIETTA.  173 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

"A  pretty  fellow  you  are!  Do  you  know  that 
you  have  cheated  me  out  of  eighty  acres  of  good 
land?  Of  course  you  know  it,  there  is  no  need  to 
ask  the  question.  You  knew  that  you  were 
swindling  me  and  others,  at  the  time  you  made 
your  fair  statements;  but  I'll  be  even  with  you 
yet,  mark  my  word." 

The  speaker,  pale  with  anger,  shook  his  fist 
toward  a  figure  with  a  face  almost  as  pale  as  his 
own,  as  it  cowered  close  to  the  lobby  wall,  leading 
to  one  of  the  most  prominent  business  blocks  in 
the  city. 

He  was  but  one  of  the  crowd  of  beligerents,  all 
equally  as  full  of  wrath  as  was  himself. 

He  ceased  for  a  moment  or  two  as  if  to  regain 
breath,  arid  to  collect  a  supply  of  denunciating 
epithets  before  resuming  the  thread  of  vitupera- 
tion, but  ere  he  had  time  to  commence  anew 
another  took  it  up  for  him. 

"I  am  also  one  out  of  whom  you  have  taken  a 
blood-sucker's  bite  by  your  false  deal.  Where  is 
the  lot,  for  which  I  paid  to  you  three  hundred 
dollars,  with  the  assurance  that  in  a  very  short 
time  I  might  be  able,  by  sale  of  trade,  to  double 
my  money?  Where  is  it  I  say?  In  the  land  of  no 
where  or  nearly  as  bad.  Miles  away  from  here  in 


174  HENRIETTA. 

a  swamp  that  is  covered  by  water  in  summer,  and 
by  a  muskrat  town  on  ice  in  the  winter.  O,  but 
your  a  sweet  one,  ar'nt  you?  Give  me  back  my 
money,  damn  you,  or  else  come  out  here  and  we 
shall  see  which  is  the  better  man  of  the  two.  I'll 
take  it  out  of  your  miserable  carcass!" 

This  speaker  was  too  plethoric  a  build  to  be 
pale,  he  was  purple  and  bloated  with  anger.  He 
made  a  lurch  toward  the  guilty  wretch  who  evi- 
dently did  not  care  to  measure  the  strength  of  his 
muscle  against  an  opponent  of  this  sort.  He 
clung  still  closer  to  the  wall  and  his  foe  was  kept 
off  by  the  threat  of  some  uninterested  bystanders, 
who  spoke  of  calling  for  police  interferance  if  the 
peace  was  broken  in  this  way. 

"He's  a  sneak  and  a  villain,"  said  another  voice. 

"I  should  like  to  see  him  whipped  soundly.  I 
traded  off  two  lots  in  a  desirable  location  for  his 
-worthless  stuff.  They  belenged  to  my  wife,  and  I 
induced  her  to  part  with  them,  so  that  my  family 
peace  is  broken.  I  shall  never  hear  the  last  of  the 
fine  bargain  \vhich  I  have  made!" 

"I  have  mortgaged  my  home,"  said  a  fourth, 
"in  order  to  raise  money  to  pay  for  the  fraud.  Of 
course  it  will  be  sacrificed,  as  the  tarnal  lots  can- 
not be  sold  for  enough  to  pay  the  rate  for  a  good 
soul's  passage  through  purgatory." 

This  raised  a  laugh  among  the  unbitten. 

"What's  all  the  fuss  about!"  asked  a  tall,  cleri- 
cal looking  man,  who  had  just  joined  the  group. 

"What's  it  about,"  shouted  the  plethoric  indi- 
vidual, his  anger  not  one  whit  abated.  "I  can  tell 


HENRIETTA.  175 

you  what  it's  about.  That  scoundrel  yonder  was 
possessor  to  a  tract  of  land  which  he  defined  as 
being  most  excellent  for  building  purposes,  and 
said  it  was  near  a  lake  north  of  the  city  limits. 
Well,  he  made  out,  gentlemen,  to  sell  a  good  por- 
tion of  it  at  prices  suitable  to  land  of  the  described 
location,  but  when  the  buyers  came  to  look  up 
their  purchase,  they  found  it  in  section  thirty-five, 
township  thirty-four,  range  west,  just  forty  miles 
from  the  city,  lying  north  truly,  and  near  a  lake 
of  the  same  name,  and  this  comes  of  having  more 
than  one  natural  feature  of  a  State  to  bear  the 
identical  handle.  They  seemed  fixed  on  purpose 
for  the  benefit  of  such  sharks  as  he.  It  proved  to 
be  swamp  land,  and  barren,  sandy  bluffs,  unfit  for 
anything,  unless  it  might  be  to  put  this  villian  out 
to  browse  upon  for  a  term  of  years  like  Nebuchad- 
nezzer  of  old.  I  should,  in  that  case,  have  no 
mercy  upon  him!" 

"Nor  I!  nor  I!  nor  I!"  shouted  several  voices  in 
succession. 

"Why,  he's  ruined  me,"  said  the  man  with  the 
mortgaged  home.  "He's  got  the  money  for  which 
myself  and  family  shall  be  turned  into  the  street. 
But  I  must  and  \vill  have  my  money  back!  I  can- 
not stand  his  fraud,  it  is  too  bad!" 

"Well,"  said  a  bystander,  "why  don't  you  all 
band  together  and  pursue  the  same  plan  that  he 
has;  or,  in  other  words,  proceed  to  sell  your  lots 
according  as  they  were  sold  to  you,  as  the 
suburbs;  city  suburbs,  you  know,  may  be  made  to 
extend  a  long  way." 


176  HENRIET2A. 

"O,  yes!  that  would  be  fine  indeed,"  answered 
one  of  the  gulls.  "To  make  ourselves  as  mean  as 
he,  and  by  so  doing  become  fit  subjects  for  the 
penitentiary.  I  think  there  are  none  here  who 
\vould  be  ready  for  an  act  of  that  sort." 

"Perhaps,"  said  the  clerical  looking  man,  "that 
if  you  all  weigh  well  your  motives  in  the  trans- 
action, it  will  be  found  that  you  were  not  alto- 
gether guiltless.  He,  it  seems,  a  skillful  fisher- 
man, held  out  a  gilded  bait,  and  had  no  trouble  in 
finding  fish  enough  to  bite  without  question,  as 
to  the  rightousness  of  the  thing." 

"Did  it  never  strike  3Tou,  gentlemen,  that  the 
land  was  too  cheap,  at  your  buying  price,  for  the 
supposed  location?  Nor  that  the  persons  to 
•whom  you  should  sell,  that  is,  if  you  doubled  your 
money,  would  have  to  pay  to  you  a  sum  altogether 
too  much,  on  your  speculation?  No,  3Tou  never 
thought  of  that." 

"  So  long  as  we  are  not  to  be  bled,  so  long  as  there 
was  something  to  be  made  in  any  way  easier  than 
the  strictly  honorable  one  imposed  upon  our  first 
parents,  when  they  left  Eden,  you  were  satisfied!" 

"You  were  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice  in  order 
to  gain  something  for  nothing." 

"But  in  all  such  movements,  recollect,  that  some 
one  has  got  to  pay  for  this  easy  filling  of  your 
purse.  In  the  case  of  a  land  boom,  so  called,  it  is 
extremely  hard  when  it  falls  upon  the  the  me- 
chanic or  laborer,  who  by  this  fictitious  value,  is 
either  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  a  roof  he  may 
call  his  own,  or  else  is  driven  far  out  from  the 


HENRIETTA.  177 

center  of  his  \vork,  so  that  to  make  for  himself  and 
family  a  living  is  impossible." 

The  man  was  a  reformer,  a  single,  or  land  tax 
theorist,  and  at  his  words,  the  culprit  who,  until 
now,  had  heard  all  of  the  abuse  heaped  upon  him, 
with  a  silent  tongue,  took  courage  to  speak,  and 
his  invectives  were  fully  as  strong  as  any  that  had 
been  hurled  at  him. 

"You'ralla  lying,  sneaking  set  of  numskulls, 
you  are  indeed!" 

"If  you  find  that  you  are  cheated  whose  fault  is 
it?  Why  did  you  not  investigate  the  matter? 
You  had  your  own  eyes;  you  had  your  own  ears; 
and  your  own  mouths  to  inquire,  and  the  stuff 
that  you  have  trucked  off  for  my  bargain  is 
scarcely  worth  anything." 

"I,  though,  am  willing  to  give  up  some  of  the 
money,  at  least,  to  those  very  much  \vronged  in- 
dividuals, who,  it  would  seem,  know  more  of  bil- 
lingsgate than  they  do  of  business  principles,  any 
way  the  hen-pecked  husband,  and  the  one  who 
was  silly  enough  to  risk  the  home  of  his  family 
for  the  sake  of  a  larger  piece  of  fortune'^  cake, 
if  they  \vill  call  at  my  office  at  ten  o'clock,  sharp, 
to-morrow  morning." 

Then  the  fraudulent  dealer  in  real  estate,  for- 
getting the  imputation  which  he  had  just  cast  at 
his  opponents,  as  a  protection  against  their  just 
charges,  which  would  have  put  to  shame  the 
famous  war  \vords  between  Daniel  O'Connor  and 
the  huckster  woman  of  Dublin;  after  which  he 
managed  to  slip  away  unnoticed  by  the  crowd. 


178  HENRIETTA. 

A  tall,  mild  looking  man  also  left  about  the 
same  time,  and  took  his  way  to  his  suburban 
home. 

It  was  William  Clipper,  and  he  was  one  of  the 
dupes  of  the  sharp  trader. 

His  little  all,  the  savings  of  several  years,  had 
been  invested  in  one  lot,  with  the  hope  that  a 
miraculous  advance  and  rapid  sale  would  enable 
him,  in  a  short  time,  to  bring  to  Hannah  a  mar- 
riage dowry,  which  would  so  surprise  and  please 
her  that  all  objections  to  their  union — on  that 
score — might  be  removed. 

He,  who  was  so  opposed  to  the  accumulation  of 
wealth  in  an  unjust  manner,  had  never  consider- 
ed it  a  wrong  for  the  holder  of  land  to  take  advan- 
tage of  a  rise  in  the  market,  so  long  as  he  kept  to 
strict  business  principles.  Therefore  he  had 
entered  upon  the  small  speculation  without  the 
least  straining  of  his  conscience. 

He  had  small  faith  that  the  dealer  would  keep 
his  \vord,  as  to  a  restitution,  even  to  the  persons 
mentioned;  much  less  to  himself,  in  case  he  made 
application,  and  as  to  entering  a  suit  in  law 
against  him,  that  seemed  infeasable,  as  a  case 
could  not,  in  his  judgment,  be  well  substantiated. 

The  barren  truth — which  is  not  always  as  fair 
as  poets  and  philosophers  make  it  to  appear — 
stared  him  in  the  face.  He  had  been  badly 
fleeced,  like  a  confiding  lamb  who  is  caught  in  the 
toils  of  the  wolf,  and  that  ended  it. 

What  would  Jaax,  his  neighbor,  say  when  he 
heard  about  it?  he  asked  himself. 


HENRIETTA.  179 

He  most  likely  would  hear  of  it,  for,  though  not 
a  reading  man  himself,  yet  some  of  his  more 
literary  neighbors  would  tell  him  from  those 
worse  than  gossips,  the  daily  papers. 

Then  he  gave  a  few  bitter  thoughts  toward 
those  recepticles  of  petrified  wisdom;  mentally 
deciding  that,  though  the  freedom  of  the  press 
was  a  good  thing,  yet  a  slight  repression  of  its 
prerogative  wou-ld  be  beneficial  to  society,  at  any 
rate  to  himself  just  at  present. 

There  was  Hannah,  too,  to  think  about. 

She,  also,  would  certainly  in  time  become  an 
apprisant  of  the  bungling  piece  of  work  in  all  its 
stupidity.  Hannah!  for  whose  sake  it  had  been 
done! 

She,  he  was  sure,  \vould  now  think  less  of  his 
business  capabilities  than  ever. 

Was  ever  lover  more  unfortunate  since  the  days 
of  fairy  lore  ? 

Was  ever  woman  so  hard  to  be  won  since  the 
time  of  knighthood  ? 

He  loved  her  as  much  as  ever,  and  for  the  sake 
of  securing  a  more  elevated  value  in  her  estima- 
tion, had  tried  various  monied  schemes. 

Firstly,  he  essayed  to  become  a  civilized  cowboy, 
if  such  a  being  can  exist,  and,  with  this  view, 
•went  to  the  depth  of  twenty  dollars  in  his  purse, 
spending  it  on  as  many  young  calves,  but  luck 
was  against  him.  Some  of  them  died  while  still 
too  young  to  care  for  themselves,  and  those  which 
had  hardihood  enough  to  reach  a  state  of  mature 
calfhood,  were  stolen  one  night  by  cattle  thieves. 


180  HENRIETTA. 

Then  he  went  into  the  chicken  business,  but  the 
cholera  broke  out  among  them,  so  that  in  a  short 
time  his  well-arranged  coops,  \vith  their  glass 
windows  facing  the  southern  warmth,  and  their 
fortified  backs  fighting  the  northern  winds,  were 
destitute  of  inhabitants.  Ever3T  feathered  and 
blooded  creature  was  dead,  despite  this  liming, 
scouring,  and  vigorous  use  of  cayenne  pepper ! 

He  began  to  fear  that  Poctolus  would  never 
smile  upon  him  ! 

One  morning  about  a  week  after  the  discovery 
his  failure  as  a  skillful  speculator,  he  was  walking 
through  the  woods  back  of  his  habitation  with 
some  sticks  for  a  drop-trap  under  one  arm  and 
a  short-handed  garden  hoe  in  the  other. 

He  was  too  much  taken  up  with  his  gloomy 
cogitations,  to  notice,  what  upon  another  occasion 
would  have  been  a  scene  of  enthusiastic  delight, 
that  the  trees  were  covered  \vith  a  mantle  of  white, 
soft  as  ermine  or  eider,  made  brilliant  by  the  early 
sun's  rays  in  a  million  of  sparkling  gems. 

The  law  of  silence  which  in  winter  holds  in  im- 
perial repression  all  sounds,  save  when  it  is  broken 
by  the  sweeping  tempest,  as  it  comes  to  trample 
upon  it  in  its  power,  was  over  all  with  its  nrystic 
influence,  only  his  own  footsteps  making  the 
least  encroachment  as  they  crushed  the  pliant  car- 
pet under  them. 

No  sign  of  life  was  seen,  save  a  solitary  squirrel, 
as  it  scudded  over  the  snow  with  nimble  feet 
and  timid  eyes  toward  its  burrow  in  some  aged 
oak. 


HENRIETTA.  181 

Clipper  was  thinking,  and  amongother  thoughts, 
of  course,  Hannah  had  her  full  share. 

The  old  adage  runs,  "Think  of  Satan  and  he  will 
appear." 

Now,  no  one  among  all  the  spinster's  acquaint- 
ances thought  quite  badly  enough  of  her — Mrs. 
Desmond  included — to  put  her  upon  an  equal  foot- 
ing \vith  this  baleful  personage,  but  for  this  one 
time  she  appeared  to  fit  into  the  proverb  exactly, 
as,  upon  raising  his  organs  of  vision  from  the 
ground  at  a  slight  noise  he  looked  squarely  upon 
her  trim,  wiry  form,  with  its  brown  dress  and 
dark  cloak. 

On  one  of  her  arms  rested  the  handle  of  a  small 
basket,  and  within  the  circle  of  the  other  a  paper 
parcel. 

Clipper  was  upon  the  ignoble  errand  of  endeav- 
oring to  snare  to  its  death  a  creature  whose  only 
fault  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  was  more  weak  than 
himself,  but  Hannah  was  bent  upon  either  saving 
life  or  else  to  alleviate  its  suffering,  for  she  was  on 
her  way  to  Eldie  Jannaux  with  dainties  for  eating 
and  herbs  for  medicine. 

Not  expecting  to  meet  her  at  this  time  in  the 
morning,  it  being  quite  early,  her  appearance 
caused  him  to  bring  himself  to  a  sudden  and 
rather  surprised  stop. 

"Why,  Hannah,"  he  said,  as  he  shifted  the  hoe 
and  extended  to  her  his  hand,  "You  must  be  an 
early  riser  to  be  out  so  soon  in  the  morning." 

She  took  his  hand  mechanically,  while  a  hard- 
ness more  than  usual  came  into  her  dark  eyes. 


182  HENRIETTA. 

Her  lover  noticed  the  expression  and  groaned 
inwardljT,  as  he  considered  that  its  advent  boded 
no  good  toward  him. 

"Yes,  I  am  an  early  riser.  People  who  have  to 
earn  their  living  by  labor  must  not  dilly-dally 
morning,  da}7,  nor  evening.  Time  means  money 
to  them  and  money  means  time." 

Hannah  was  not  of  the  sort  who  are  able  to  put 
their  thoughts  into  long  or  uncommon  words,  but 
-she  could  express  herself  with  sufficient  force  and 
clearness  to  be  well  understood,  especially  in  the 
line  of  fault-finding. 

"High-sounding  words,"  she  used  to  sa}r,  "are 
just  used  by  some  folks  to  show  how  much  more 
they  know  than  other  folks." 

No  pedant  was  she,  so  far  as  books  are  con- 
cerned, but  \vhen  it  came  to  housekeeping — ;  then 
she  was  the  greatest  pedant  alive!  for  there  is 
just  where  you  will  find  as  much  of  the  "show-off  " 
as  anywhere  in  life,  not  in  all  cases  though,  for 
earnest  workers  are  there  who  make  no  comment 
upon  themselves  or  others,  just  as  the  same  sort 
are  found  among  lettered  people. 

Her  brief  homily  upon  the  question  of  time  and 
money  was  divined,  as  to  its  meaning,  by  him. 
The  storm  was  brewing,  and  soon  it  fell  about  his 
defenseless  head ! 

He,  for  the  first  time,  noticed  the  chaste  beauty 
about  them  as  his  eyes  wandered  restlessly  away 
from  her  face  to  the  jeweled  vista  before  him;  and 
he  quickly  took  advantage  of  it  to  break  the  omi- 
nous spell,  and  to  divert  his  companion's  attention 


HENRIETTA.  183 

from  the  theme  which  he  knew  was  engaging  her 
thoughts  at  the  moment. 

What  a  charming  sight  we  have  in  the  snow- 
clad  ground  and  trees,  with  their  myriads  of  spark- 
ling gems,  and,  as  I  live,  if  there  isn't  a  bluejay; 
the  first  I  have  noticed  this  winter,  though  some 
seasons  they  are  plenty  enough. 

The  bird  at  that  moment  perked  its  beautifully 
tufted  head,  extended  its  blue-and-black  barred 
wings,  and  noiselessly  sailed  away  to  the  top  of  a 
distant  cottonwood. 

Their  eyes  followed  it  almost  involuntarily. 

"Yes,  the  woods  look  well  enough,  but  as  to 
birds  I  never  did  care  much  for  them,  they  are 
such  mischievous  creatures.  My  raspberries  are 
destroyed  every  year,  more  or  less,  by  them. 
Speaking  about  them,  though,  brings  the  old  say- 
ing to  mind  that  'a  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two 
in  the  bush. '  " 

Her  bright,  piercing  eyes  looked  straight  into 
his  milder  ones,  which  caused  him  to  wince  per- 
ceptably,  still  he  went  on  with  his  evasive  talk. 

"It  is  some  time  since  I  have  had  any  birds 
worth  mentioning.  I  went  out  along  with  Robert 
Orme  last  fall  after  chickens  and  partridges, 
but  got  only  a  brace  of  the  latter  for  our 
pains." 

"I  should  think,"  said  Hannah,  "that  you  would 
find  something  more  honorable  to  do  than  to  be 
idling  about  that  way." 

Her  lover  colored,  as  he  asked  testily,  and  with 
more  spirit  than  she  thought  him  capable  of  show- 


184  HENRIETTA. 

ing,  "Did  you  ever  know  of  my  doing  anything 
dishonorable,  Hannah?" 

"Well,  no;  not  exactly;  but  I'm  sure  that  trying 
to  get  something  without  fairly  and  squarely  work- 
ing for  it  is  not  very  honest,  in  my  way  of  think- 
ing." 

"And  when  did  I  do  that?"  he  asked.  "You 
seem  to  know  more  of  my  business  than  I  do  my- 
self. " 

"Well,  I  only  know  what  the  whole  neighbor- 
hood knows  about  your  foolishly  throwing  away 
your  three  hundred  dollars  upon  a  catch-penny 
scheme." 

"Oh!  but  you  are  smart!  A  man  of  your  ager 
too!  I  was  surprised  to  know  that  you  had  so 
much  money  about  you,  and  truly  I  must  allow 
you  some  credit  for  your  saving  habits — ;  but — 
having  so  much — why  didn't  you  stick  to  it?" 

"It  just  serves  you  right,  though,"  went  on  the 
spinster.  "Why  can't  people  be  satisfied  \vithout 
entering  into  some  idle  freak  of  speculation?" 

"No  good  conies  of  it  I  am  sure." 

"O  yes,  there  does,  sometimes,  Hannah." 

"Lots  of  persons  make  their  fortunes  in  just 
such  a  way." 

"Yes,  but  they  are  different  kind  of  persons 
from  you.  They  have  some  business  about  them, 
and  don't  pay  out  their  money  on  a  blind." 

"Well,  my  money  is  gone,  and  its  loss  seems  to 
be  irretrievable.  I  suppose  I  am  some  to  blame; 
but,  to  put  the  subject  pointedly,  how  \vould  it 
have  been  in  your  estimation  had  I  been  success- 


HENRIETTA.  185 

ful  in  the  deal?  That  is  to  say,  if  I  had  been  able 
to  double  my  means  by  it?" 

"I  know,"  she  replied,  "that  success,  like  charity, 
covers  a  heap  of  wrong.  Success  with  you  would 
surely  have  made  you  stand  better  among  our 
neighbors." 

"It  would  look  as  if  there  "were  something  more 
than  mere  shiftlessness  about  you.  Kither  that, 
or  the  keeping  of  your  money,  would  have  suited 
me  better  than  the  stupid  work  you  have  done." 

Her  voice  had  a  broken  querulousness  in  it,  that 
he  had  never  noticed  before,  and  her  eyes  wore  a 
strongly  moistened  look. 

"I  had  about  half  made  up  my  mind ." 

She  stopped  with  her  sentence  unfinished. 

"Made  up  your  mind  to  marry  me,  Hannah?  is 
that  it?" 

That  is  just  \vhat  she  was  about  to  say,  but  the 
old  spirit  of  contrariness  seized  her  at  that  instant, 
and  she  said;  "no,  not  that,  but  that  I  had  a  notion 
to  take  no  notice  at  all  of  you  this  morning, 
especially  as  my  time  is  precious.  Eldie  Jannaux 
is  racked  with  a  cough,  she  is  in  need  of  these 
things,  so  good  bye  Mr.  Clipper,"  and  she  was 
gone  without  further  formality;  down  the  snowy 
way  leading  to  the  lake. 

Clipper  looked  after  her  as  he  made  the  silent 
comment,  "well,  Hannah  I  begin  to  see  through 
you,  although  you  think  yourself  impenatrable, 
I  believe,  -with  a  small  show  of  property,  or  money 
on  my  side,  to  silence  the  tongue  of  gossip  more 
than  any  other  consideration,  you  would  become 


186  HENRIETTA. 

mine.  No  doubt  her  heart  has  belonged  to  me  all 
of  the  time,  only  she  has  been  too  stubborn  to 
admit  of  it." 

"None  of  the  silly,  gushing  sort  is  Hannah, 
none  of  the  women  who  carry  their  heart  on  the 
outside  or  their  bosom." 

With  a  satisfied  smile  on  his  pale  features,  the 
fisherman  and  hunter  went  on  his  way,  over  the 
glistening  ground  to  where  the  trees  grew  thicker 
and  the  snow  lay  in  drifted  piles;  some  large, 
some  small,  just  as  the  wind  had  laid  them,  ac- 
cording to  some  geometrical  law  of  nature. 

He  laid  his  material  upon  the  ground,  and  then 
kneeling  down,  commenced  to  scrape  with  his 
hoe,  the  upper  layer  of  recently  fallen  feather}' 
flakes  from  off  the  under  layer,  which  had  been 
congealed  into  a  form  almost  as  solid  as  clear  ice. 

After  a  short  time  of  hard  labor  he  had  cleared 
a  space  large  enough  for  his  purpose,  and  then  he 
arose  and  brought  a  log  from  its  leaning  posture 
against  a  neighboring  tree,  where  it  had  been 
•deposited  by  himself,  while  out  \vood  chopping, 
the  day  before. 

This  he  fixed  as  a  dead  fall,  by  driving  some 
sharp  sticks  into  the  frozen  soil,  by  means  of  a 
hatchet  which  he  drew  from  a  great  side  pocket 
in  his  overcoat. 

At  the  moment  of  completion  of  this  instrument 
of  death — just  as  he  was  about  to  arise  from  his 
stooping  posture — his  eyes  fell  upon  something 
glittering  among  the  hard  substance  at  the  off 
side  of  the  trap,  much  too  large  it  looked  for  one 


HENRIETTA.  187 

of  the  fairy  snow-diamonds,  and  besides  it  had  a 
more  auriferious  and  substantial  face  than  any  of 
those  frail  shinners. 

His  first  thought  was,  "I  have  scraped  out  from 
its  hiding  place  a  nugget  of  the  precious  mineral." 

"Who  knows,  perhaps  the  fickle  goddess  of  for- 
tune is  about  to  smile  upon  me." 

Then  his  judgment  told  him  that  these  tame 
bluffs  would  scarcely  be  the  place  for  the  yellow 
mineral  to  crop  out,  or  if,  against  all  likelihood,  it 
did  exist  here,  it  must  have  before  this  found  a 
discoverer. 

To  carefully  remove  the  tenacious  casing  of  ice 
from  about  it  was  the  work  of  no  great  length  of 
time,  so  that  soon  it  rested  in  the  palm  of  his 
hand,  not  a  nugget,  but  an  old-fashioned  and  beau- 
tifully chased  locket,  such  as  was  much  in  use  a 
few  decades  ago,  as  an  ornament  for  watch  chain 
or  necklace. 

For  every  Madame  Bluebeard  a  male  mate  may 
be  found. 

The  nymph,  Curiosity,  does  not  rule  the  female 
gender  exclusively. 

She  sometimes,  nay,  very  often,  manages  to  get 
her  sceptre  in  full  waving  sway  over  the  head  of 
some  wight  of  the  genus  homo. 

She  so  managed  upon  this  occasion,  for  no 
sooner  had  the  staid,  thoughtful  bachelor  taken  a 
full  view  of  the  superficial  beauties  of  the  thing 
which  he  held  than  a  strong  desire  seized  upon 
him  to  know  of  its  contents. 

A  few  minutes  of  rubbing  and  warming  between 


188  HENRIETTA. 

his  two  palms  made  the  spring  by  which  it  was 
fastened,  pliable  enough  to  open,  so  that  soon  his 
wish  was  gratified. 

As  he  had  suspected,  it  contained  a  portrait,  not 
of  old  style,  like  its  receptacle,  but  modern,  with 
the  impress  of  that  best  of  all  means  for  obtaining 
epochs  of  time;  the  dress  of  the  individual,  coat, 
shirt-front  and  tie,  all  indicative  of  a  lapse  of  not 
more  than  two  years  since  the  artist  had  caught 
the  shadow  of  the  real  and  brought  it  to  a  fixity, 
an  image  of  its  type  as  the  face  of  the  human  is 
the  image  of  its  creator. 

The  countenance  was  dark,  with  heavy,  clear- 
cut  features,  a  beetling  forehead,  fronted  by  black 
brows;  side-whiskers,  resting  over  \vide  jaws,  and 
a  chin,  square  -with  an  iron  firmness  impressed 
upon  it.  A  singular  face,  with  the  unmistakable 
look  of  a  man  of  forcible  character,  strong  for 
either  good  or  evil,  according  to  the  path  in  which 
his  destiny  should  lead  him. 

It  had  led  him  into  the  way  of  evil,  as  the  sequel 
will  show. 


HENRIETTA.  189 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Carnations  and  sniilax!  How  beautiful  are  they 
when  skillfully  interwoven! 

Henrietta  Dudley  was  an  adept  in  the  art  of 
boquet-making,  and  this  morning  in  her  aunt's 
parlor  she  stood,  working  at  one  for  a  throat  knot 
to  adorn  her  own  fair  self. 

Delightfully  happy  she  looked,  with  a  light  in 
her  eyes,  and  a  pride  on  her  forehead,  for  she  had 
recently  entered  upon  a  new  role;  one  not  often 
assumed  by  -women  of  her  class,  that  of  a  person 
of  business;  and  what  was  still  more,  she  had 
come  off  victor  in  the  contest,  if  great  financial 
success  may  be  used  as  an  equivalent  for  the  word, 
as  she  had  been  fortunate  in  the  highest  degree. 

It  came  about  in  this  way: 

Having  heard  of  a  boom  in  real  estate  in  a  town 
of  a  neighboring  State,  she  had  borrowed  from  her 
lover,  Charles  Lennox,  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
dollars. 

The  loan  was  given,  not  -without  considerable 
hesitation,  as  he  considered  the  step  one  bej^ond 
the  prerogatives  of  her  sex,  and  this  was  dis- 
tasteful to  him  in  3113^  woman,  how  much 
more  then  in  the  one  to  \vhom  he  had  given 
his  love? 

But  the  affection  of  his  heart  overbalanced  his 


190  HENRIETTA. 

natural  antipathy  to  the  proposed  course,  and 
then,  modern  custom  argued  in  her  favor. 

This,  it  told  him  is  an  age  of  reform  and  pro- 
gression. Old  theories  and  practices  were  rapidly 
dissolving  under  the  advancing  light  of  liberal 
education,  and  of  thought.  Women  were  no 
longer  looked  upon  as  creatures  of  mere  depen- 
dence. The  simile  of  the  oak  and  the  vine  had 
lost  its  force.  During  his  own,  not  very  long  life, 
he  had  noticed  cases  where  the  order  -was  entirely 
reversed,  and  in  most  of  connubial  ties  there 
seemed  to  be  an  even  balance,  a  state  which  pre- 
cluded either  party  from  the  condition  of  para- 
siteism. 

Looking  at  the  affair  in  the  coloring  of  these 
silent  reflections,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  yield  to 
her  request. 

Mrs.  Desmond  was  horrified,  to  use  her  own  ex- 
pression of  feeling. 

"  She  is  going  beside  herself,"  was  her  comment. 

"To  think  of  a  female  Dudley  undertaking  so 
bold  and  masculine  a  step — all,  too,  for  the  vulgar 
thing  of  feathering  her  own  nest!  She  is  the  first 
one  of  her  race  to  enter  the  list  of  strong  minded 
•women  and  I  hope  she  will  be  the  last." 

Hetty  took  her  departure  to  the  place  of  the 
flesh-pots  \vhere  the  buzzards  were  gathering  in 
unprecedented  numbers,  and  a  most  voracious, 
gormandizing  bird  was  she  among  the  rest  of 
them. 

Either  she  was  possessed  of  extraordinary  fore- 
sight and  business  capacity,  or  else  she  met  -with 


HENRIETTA.  191 

the  particular  favor  of  experienced  male  advisors, 
which  a  very  handsome,  well-dressed  and  toler- 
ably intelligent  woman  \vould  be  apt  to  secure  for 
herself. 

She  went  away  with  her  humble  five  hundred 
dollars  and  returned  worth  twenty  thousand,  in  a 
short  time!  All  by  the  successful  manipulation 
of  real  estate  in  the  town  of  a  phenominal  land-rise. 

As  she  stood  upon  this  bright  February  morn- 
ing among  the  pots  of  roses,  geraniums  and  other 
floral  beauties,  well,  then,  might  she  seem  as 
blooming  as  any  of  them. 

There  was  also  another  reason  for  her  bright 
gladness,  and  of  this  last  she  was  thinking  most 
as  she  gently  pulled,  twisted  and  arranged  the 
charming  bits  of  coloring,  scarlet  and  cream, 
between  her  shell-tipped  taper  fingers. 

The  morning  sun  just  far  enough  upon  his 
western  journey  to  meet  squarely  the  south  look- 
ing window,  threw  his  gold  transmuting  shafts 
athwart  the  dark  of  her  hair,  lighting  it  into  a 
thousand  gilded  threads,  and  giving  to  her  face  a 
look  of  brilliancy  entrancing  in  its  effects.  How 
grandly  beautiful  she  seemed  with  her  eyes  down- 
cast upon  her  \vork,  the  long  lashes  sweeping  her 
cheek  \vith  their  gentle  curve. 

Surely  Ariadne  was  not  more  peerless  among 
the  Goddesses,  when  she  stood  before  her  kneel- 
ing Thesius,  than  was  this  woman  among  the 
daughters  of  Eve. 

So  she  appeared  when  the  announcement  that 
her  lover  was  at  the  door  surprised  her. 


192  HENRIETTA. 

It  was  rather  an  inopportune  time  for  him  to 
pay  her  a  visit,  and  she  expressed  some  wonder 
at  it  by  the  least  perceptable  change  of  counten- 
ance. But  that  was  all. 

There  was  none  of  the  heart-flutterings,  none  of 
the  exqusite  thrillings  of  pleasure  trembling  along 
the  nerves,  tuning  them  to  that  music  of  love  for 
the  one  among  all  others  \vhere  perfect  affinity 
meets. 

The  lute  within  her  bosom  kept  time  to  the 
touch  of  a  different  hand. 

The  same  statuesque  repose,  the  same  self-satis- 
fied look  and  absorption  to  the  order  of  the  flower- 
jewel  that  signalized  her  before  his  advent,  was 
upon  her. 

His  early  call  came  about  through  the  medium- 
ship  of  Clipper. 

When  that  \vorthy  man  reached  his  home  after 
the  finding,  he  took  a  more  scrutinizing  look  at 
the  locket,  and  found — what  had  before  escaped 
his  notice — the  name  "Henrietta"  finely  lettered 
in  the  concave  of  the  covering. 

Then  his  memory  reverted  to  the  picnic  of  a 
good  deal  more  than  a  year  ago.  To  be  sure,  he 
reasoned,  this  trinket  belongs  to  Miss  Dudley  and 
she  must  have  lost  it  at  that  time,  that  cruel  time 
when  Hannah,  he  had  afterwards  heard,  tabooed 
his  presence  upon  pain  of  her  own  nonappear- 
ance. 

Then  he  planned  to  carry  it  to  its  owner  him- 
self that  ver}T  day,  but  unforseeri  circumstances 
arose  to  prevent,  so  that  he  handed  it  to  Lennox, 


HENRIETTA.  193 

whom  he  met  late  that  night  on  his  way  home 
from  the  city. 

Clipper  opened  it  at  presentation,  in  order  to 
show  to  him  the  name,  as  a  proof  that  it  belonged 
to  his  betrothed  wife.  Then  Lennox  saw  the  por- 
trait. It  was,  without  doubt,  that  of  the  hunter, 
who  had  crossed  the  path  of  Hetty  and  himself, 
\vith  the  gleam  of  recognition  in  his  eyes,  at  the 
time  of  the  fall  picnic,  and  of  the  stranger  who 
seemed  so  bent  upon  watching  their  movements 
at  the  ball  of  the  previous  winter. 

Here,  then,  was  a  mystery. 

He  had  not,  on  account  of  a  two  days'  absence 
to  a  neighboring  town,  been  able  to  see  Hetty  since 
her  return  from  her  business  trip,  so  he  intended 
to  go  over  to  the  Desmond  cottage  that  evening, 
but  the  circumstance  of  meeting  with  Clipper 
hastened  his  visit. 

He  had  all  of  the  haste  of  an  ardent  lover  who 
wishes  an  affair,  touching  upon  his  jealousy,  either 
fancied  or  real,  cleared  up  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Hetty  advanced  into  the  center  of  the  room  as 
he  came  in,  and  with  an  air  of  listless  sang  froid 
took  his  proffered  hand. 

A  less  penetrating  man  than  Lennox  could  not 
have  failed  to  notice  her  coolness  of  reception  and 
her  utter  \vant  of  interest  in  the  man  to  whom  she 
had  pledged  herself  in  promised  wifehood. 

He,  of  course,  noticed  it,  and  the  fact  added 
much  to  his  preconceived  notion  of  inconstancy 
on  her  part. 

His  mind  was  in  too  perturbed  a  stale  to  think 


194  HENRIETTA. 

of  inquiring  as  to  her  success,  whether  it  was 
good  or  ill.  Indeed,  as  his  love  for  her  had  not 
been  in  the  least  tinged  by  a  mercenary  coloring, 
he  had,  from  the  first,  cared  but  little  for  the 
affair.  He  had  allowed  her  the  necessary  money, 
more  out  of  a  fond  yielding  to  her  wish  than  from 
any  other  consideration.  So  much  power  had  this 
fascinating  woman  wielded  over  the  strong  man. 

A  few  commonplace  remarks  as  to  her  journey 
and  the  subject  was  dismissed  for  one  of  more  im- 
port, or  the  one  relating  to  the  portrait  and  its 
original. 

"I  have  here,"  he  began,  "a  locket  which  was 
found  in  the  woods  where  we  picniced  sixteen 
months  ago.  It  was  discovered  under  the  snow 
by  William  Clipper,  who  brought  it  to  me,  and,  as 
your  name  is  engraved  within,  I  presume  it  is 
yours." 

Her  color  and  voice  changed  somewhat  as  she 
answered,  "Yes,  the  locket  is  mine,  as  also  is  the 
original  of  the  picture."  This  she  said,  as  she 
extended  her  hand  and  took  it  from  his  open  palm. 

Then  she  opened  it  and  gazed  earnestly  at  the 
dark  face  within. 

"Yours?"  asked  Lennox  in  a  tone  of  bewilder- 
ment. "  How  am  I  to  understand  you,  Hetty?  Do 
you  mean  to  say  that  the  man  there  imaged  is 
anything  to  you;  that  he  is  a  relative  by  blood?" 

"None  of  blood,  whatever,  she  replied  calmly. 
He  is  my  husband,  and,  as  such,  mine  entirely, 
and  more  than  a  mere  blood  relative." 

"Your  husband!"  exclaimed  Lennox,  as  he  arose 


HENRIETTA.  195 

from  his  seat,  pale  and  agitated,  with  anger,  sur- 
prise and  mortification,  are  you,  then,  a  married 
\voman?" 

As  an  answer  she  drew  from  her  pocket  an  em- 
bossed paper  envelope  and  handed  it  to  him. 
James  Harris  and  Henrietta  Dudley  was  written 
upon  the  back,  and  upon  the  sheet  within,  first  the 
Kpiscopal  benediction,  "In  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  followed 
by  a  certification  that  there  had  been  joined  in 
bonds  of  holy  matrimony,  by  an  authorized  min- 
ister, and  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  at  a  town 
in  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  two  persons  "whose 
names  appeared  upon  the  outside  of  this  certifi- 
cate, in  September  of  1884. 

Mechanically  he  handed  it  back  to  her. 

"I  ask  from  you  a  clearer  testimony  than  this," 
he  said. 

"This,  to  be  sure,  tells  me  that  you  have  been 
married  to  this  man,  but  it  does  not  tell  me  why 
you  should  have  engaged  yourself  to  me;  why  you 
should,  in  seeming  at  least,  have  given  me  your 
love.  Are  }7ou  a  widow,  or  a  divorced  wife?" 

He  awaited  her  response  with  breathless 
anxiet}T. 

The  dying  catch  at  anything,  and  he  was  moral- 
ly dying. 

He  would  have  forgiven  her  all,  could  she  have 
answered  either  question  in  the  affirmative,  any- 
thing so  that  she  might  be  his. 

"Neither,"  she  said,  looking  at  him  steadily  with 
her  blue  eyes. 


196  HENRIETTA. 

"He  is  not  dead,  nor  is  he  divorced  from  me,  but 
on  the  contrar}T,  he  is  alive  and  well.  We  shall, 
should  nothing  intervene  to  prevent,  be  together 
in  a  couple  of  \veeks.  If  you  remember  aright,  I 
engaged  m3Tself  to  you  under  conditions.  If 
nothing  happens,  if  the  fates  are  willing,  I  think, 
were  my  words.  I  declare  to  you  that  I  should 
have  kept  my  vow  had  these  conditions  been  ful- 
filled; or,  to  make  things  more  explicit,  in  case 
that  my  then  incarcerated  husband  should  die  in 
the  penal  institution  of  his  native  state  before  the 
expiration  of  his  sentence;  a  thing  which,  at  that 
time,  seemed  quite  probable." 

He  was  about  to  speak,  but  she  silenced  him  by 
a  gesture,  and  a  continuance  of  her  discourse. 

"You,  no  doubt,  suppose  the  person  here  por- 
trayed, to  be  identical  \vith  the  rather  mysterious 
acting  man  whom  we  met  twice;  once,  you  will 
recollect,  in  the  garb  of  a  hunter,  and  again  in  the 
lobby  of  the  ball  room  in  the  city." 

"It  is  not  him,  however,  but  of  his  twin  brother. 
They  are  as  like  as  two  peas." 

"James  and  I  were  married  clandestinely  while 
I  was  on  a  visit  to  a  friend  of  mine  in  the  State  of 
Illinois.  In  fact  we  had  never  met  until  we  saw 
one  another  there." 

"One  month  after  marriage,  before  I  had  return- 
ed to  my  parents,  he  was  arrested  for  forgery, 
tried,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  the  peneten- 
tiary  for  several  years.  Soon  after  his  imprison- 
ment, his  health  failed,  and  deatli  almost  stared 
him  in  the  face  for  a  long  while." 


HENRIETTA.  197 

"Then  I  came  out  here,  to  find,  to  my  surprise, 
that  his  brother  -was  ahead  of  me,  and  already 
fixed  in  a  business  way,  and  also  to  find,  that  so 
soon  as  my  arrival  was  known  to  him  he  was  act- 
ing the  part  of  a  spy  upon  my  conduct." 

"I  held  an  interview  with  him  through  corres- 
pondence, explaining  my  actions,  and  this  explan- 
ation seems  to  have  satisfied  him;  as  I  have 
neither  seen  nor  heard  from  him  until  the  day  of 
my  recent  return,  when  I  received  a  notification 
from  him  by  mail  telling  of  his  brother's  release 
and  perfect  restoration  to  health." 

"This  was  a  great,  I  can  truly  say  a  joyful  sur- 
prise to  me,  as  his  time  had  been  shortened  by 
one  year;  the  remission  made  on  account  of  good 
behavior  on  his  part." 

"You  see,  the  fates  have  been  opposed  to  a  mar- 
riage with  you." 

At  this  Lennox  arose,  unable  any  longer  to 
quell  his  feelings,  and  facing  her  he  said,  "I  only 
wish  to  as'c  you  one  question,  Hetty.  Do  you  love 
this  man  whom  you  call  by  the  honored  name  of 
husband;  this  man  who  has  branded  his  name, 
and  the  one  you  must  bear,  by  a  villianous  deed?" 

"Hush!"  she  exclaimed  excitedly,  "I  will  not 
hear  him  maligned !  he  is  mine,  recollect.  Love 
him !  do  you  ask?  As  -well  as  my  own  life !  \vell 
enough  to  die  for  him  if  needful." 

"Enough,"  he  said  as  he  steadied  himself  by  a 
hold  on  the  back  of  the  chair  from  which  he  had 
arisen,  "I  am  not  the  man  to  upbraid  you  for  your 
deceitful  and  utterly  heartless  bearing  toward  me. 


198  HENRIETTA. 

I  only  leave  you  to  that  which  the  undeviating 
law  of  recompense  will  bring  to  you;  that  Nemesis 
of  human  actions,  who,  though  long  he  may  be  in 
paying  like  for  like,  yet  surely  will  come.  He 
never  forgets,  and  sometimes  pays  with  com- 
pound interest." 

"I  need  not  to  ask  of  you  to  remember  the 
episode  which  came  in  the  last  eighteen  months 
in  your  life  and  mine.  No  danger  is  there  that 
you  will  ever  be  able  to  forget  it,  though  much 
you  should  endeavor  to  erase  it  from  the  page  of 
your  memory.  The  path  of  evil  doings  is  not  so 
easily  wiped  out.  To  me  it  has  been  the  sweetest 
period  that  ever  came  into  my  existence,  and  the 
sweetest  that  will  ever  come  into  it  again,  for  I 
loved  you,  Hetty,  with  a  strength  not  often  equal- 
ed, believing  you  to  be  that  which  you  appeared, 
an  embodiment  of  what  is  said  by  moralists  to  be 
a  rare  combination — great  physical  beauty,  with 
the  still  greater  gift  of  truthfulness  and  honor." 

"I  have  been  most  grievously  deceived,  and  must 
needs  submit  to  my  own  want  of  perception,  and 
the  consequences  of  entire  disobedience  to  my 
mother's  \varning  voice,  for  she  has  alwaj's 
doubted  your  sincerity. " 

In  a  stupid  sort  of  way,  then,  as  if  unable  to 
properly  think  -what  he  was  about,  he  took  two 
rolls  of  bills — one  comprising  a  loan  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  the  other  an  additional  five  hundred 
as  a  compensation  for  its  use — from  her  without 
even  so  much  as  touching  her  hand,  as  a  token  of 
farewell?  left  the  room  and  the  house,  stuffing  the 


HENRIETTA.  199 

parcels  into  his  pocket  in  so  careless  a  manner 
that  he  dropped  one  before  he  had  gone  along  the 
lake  road,  leading  to  his  home,  more  than  fifty 
yards. 

With  a  faith  rivaling  that  of  the  children  of 
Heber  in  the  Shekinah  \vithin  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
he  had  never  once  suspected  her  integrity,  not- 
withstanding his  mother's  vague  dislike  of  her, 
until  it  was  thus  brought  to  his  very  face. 

The  revelation  was  too  sudden  not  to  affect  him 
deeply,  almost  distractedly,  for  his  nature  was  not 
sufficiently  volatile  enough  to  throw  off  a  great 
grief  by  an  outburst  of  temper.  He  was  not  the 
thundering,  terrific  avalanche  which  breaks  and 
spends  itself  by  the  force  of  its  own  fury  and  then 
is  as  calm  in  its  broken  fragments  as  it  was  before 
it  took  its  wild  flight;  he  was  rather  the  smoulder- 
ing fire  which  never  bursts,  or  the  rumbling  ocean 
which,  keeping  \vithin  its  bounds,  the  elements  of 
turbulence. 

Clipper  deserved  to  be  known  by  the  cognomen 
of  "  find-all,"  for  of  all  the  folks  in  the  vicinity  he 
was  the  most  apt  to  stumble  upon  a  lost  article, 
be  it  small  or  great,  valuable  or  otherwise.  This 
peculiarity  arose  from  a  habit,  common  with  him, 
of  always  looking  upon  the  ground  as  he  walked. 

He  was  an  exact  exemplification  of  the  saying 
of  the  full  ear  of  wheat  being  apt  to  bend  down- 
ward, in  contradistinction  to  the  empty  one  which 
invariably  assumes  an  upright  posture. 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  in  his  mind  his  oppo- 
nent, Jaax,  filled  the  latter  part  of  the  axiom,  as 


200  HENRIETTA. 

his  head  was  generally  erect  in  the  effort  to  find 
out  all  he  could  about  the  business  of  others. 

Clipper,  to  be  sure,  was  the  one  who  stumbled 
upon  the  roll  of  bills,  lost  by  Lennox,  who  had 
gone  directly  home,  and  under  the  pretext  of  in- 
disposition, kept  his  room  all  day.  The  next 
morning,  however,  he  arose  and  appeared  at  table 
as  calm  as  usual,  with  nothing  but  a  slight  pallor 
and  an  undefined  look  of  hardness  about  his  face 
and  eyes,  to  tell  that  anything  unusual  had  oc- 
curred to  upset  his  equanimity. 

After  a  few  days  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to 
Montana,  where  he  would  make  another  effort  at 
success  in  his  profession. 

He  mentioned  nothing  whatever  of  his  disap- 
pointment. He  did  not  even  speak  Hetty's  name 
to  his  mother,  but  she,  with  the  instinct  of  a  lov- 
ing parent,  saw  that  something  was  wrong  with 
him,  and  shrewdly  guessed  at  the  cause. 

It  was  what  she  had  all  along  expected  to  be 
the  outcome  of  his  courtship  with  Miss  Dudley. 

He  never  again  saw  the  face  of  the  unprincipled 
woman,  and  the  next  day  he  started  for  the  city  to 
make  arrangements  for  his  departure  toward  the 
West. 

He  met  Clipper  on  the  road  not  far  from  his 
shanty. 

He,  too,  was  about  to  go  to  the  city,  where  he 
meant  to  make  known  through  the  daily  papers 
the  finding  of  the  roll  of  bills. 

He  told  Lennox  about  it,  but  was  answered  in  a 
way  so  abrupt  and  coarsely  startling  that  it  almost 


HENRIETTA.  201 

raised  the  meek  man  from  his  feet  in  a  bewildered 
surprise. 

"  Curse  you,  Clipper,  are  you  my  evil  genius? 
Why  are  you  always  finding  something  that  will 
serve  either  as  a  link  in  my  unhappy  destiny  or  a 
reminder  of  it?" 

"The  money?  Do  you  wish  to  know  whose  it 
is?  It  is  mine,  or  it  was,  but  I  have  no  use  for  it. 
Keep  it  yourself,  man.  It  would  burn  my  fingers 
were  I  to  touch  it.  You  may  as  well  know  that  it 
is  all  over  bet\veen  Miss  Dudley  and  me,  and  this 
is  the  interest,  at  one  hundred  per  cent.,  of  a  sum 
I  loaned  to  her  to  go  upon  that  speculating  tour. 
I  kept  my  own,  and  that  is  all  that  I  want." 

"She  made  a  good  thing  of  it,  I  understand, " 
said  Clipper.  "  Fifty  thousand  dollars,  I  be- 
lieve  " 

Lennox  stopped  him  \vith  a  sign  of  impatience. 

"Take  it,  I  sa}^,  and  try  to  make  good  use  of  it. 
It  may  be  the  means  of  settling  you  fairly  with 
Miss  Shaw." 

The  modest  fisherman  blushed  like  a  woman. 

That  he  was  pleased  beyond  expression  it  is 
needless  to  say;  so  that  with  many  thanks  and 
good  \vishes  for  the  welfare  of  the  donor,  he  re- 
turned to  his  humble  home,  a  dozen  projects 
already  forming  themselves  in  his  mind  for  its 
disposal. 


202  HENRIETTA. 


CHAPTER  X. 


"It  fell  upon  ae  day,  ae  bonnie  summer's  day, 
When  the  clans  were  a'  \vi  Charlie, 
That  there  fell  out  a  great  dispute, 
Between  Argyle  an  Airlie. 

Argyle  hae  raised  a  hunder  o'  his  men, 
For  to  come  i'  the  mornin'  airl3'. 
And  there  awa  doon,  at  the  back  o'  Dunkeld, 
For  to  plunder  the  bonnie  house  o'  Airlie. 

Lady  Oglebie  stans  on  her  high  casle  wa, 
An  O,  but  her  heart  beats  sairly, 
For  to  see  Argyle  an  all  o'  his  men, 
Come  to  plunder  her  bonnie  hame  o'  Airlie. 

Come  doon,  come  doon,  Lady  Oglebie,  he  cried, 

Come  doon  till  me  sae  fairly, 

Or  e'er  the  morning's  clear  daylicht, 

I'll  nae  leave  a  standin'  stoon  in  Airlie. 

I  wed  na  come  doon  prood  Argyle,  she  cried, 
Xor  come  to  thee  sae  fairly, 
Not  even  though  by  the  mornin's  licht, 
Ye  na  leave  a  standin  stoon  in  Airlie. 

Argyle  in  a  rage  attack't  the  bonnie  Ha, 
An  his  men  to  the  plunderiii  o'  Airlie, 
An  tears  though  he  saw  like  the  dew-drops  fa, 
I  a  low  he  set  the  bonnie  house  o'  Airlie. 

What  is  srou  low  cried  the  brave  Lochiel, 
That  rises  this  moniiti  sae  Airlie, 
By  the  God  o'  my  kin,  cried  the  young  Oglebie, 
It's  my  ain  bonnie  hame  o'  Airlie. 

It's  nae  any  bonnie  hame,  nor  the  lands  that  I  hae, 
That  grieves  me  heart  sae  sairly, 

But  it  is  my  \vinsome  dame,  an  the  sweet  bairns  I  lett, 
They'll  be  smoored  i'  the  dark  rook  o'  Airlie. 

Draw  ye'r  dirks,  draw  ye're  dirks,  said  the  brave  Lochiel, 

Unsheathe  ye're  swords  cried  Charlie, 

An  we'll  kinle  sic  a  low  roon  the  fause  Argyle, 

An  we'll  licht  wi  a  spark  oot  o'  Airlie." 


HENRIETTA.  203 

"You're  song  is  too  loud,  Jessie." 

It  was  the  voice  of  Mrs.  Desmond,  as  she  enter- 
ed the  cottage  kitchen. 

"It's  a  nice  song,  and  no  doubt  all  of  it  true,  but 
don't  you  know,  Jessie,  that  Mr.  Desmond  has 
been  quite  ill  all  night,  but  now  is  in  a  light  sleep, 
so  that  I  wish  the  house  to  be  kept  as  quietly  as 
possible." 

Then  she  left  the  kitchen,  and  went  up  stairs  to 
Hetty's  room,  where  that  young  lady  was  prepar- 
ing her  trunks  in  order  for  an  early  departure 
from  the  land  which  had  proven  so  much  of  a 
bonanza  to  her,  for  the  one  that  contained  her 
heart's  love;  for  this  unprincipled  -woman  \vas 
altogether  capable  of  a  grand  passion,  only  her 
object  must  rill  her  mental  conception  of  man- 
hood, a  thing  that  Charles  Lennox  had  never  done, 
could  never  do,  even  though  she  were  free  to  him. 
He  was  of  too  fine  a  type  for  her  assimilation. 

"Are  you  going  to  leave  us  so  soon?"  asked  her 
aunt. 

"I  think  it  is  time,"  said  Hetty. 

"You  know  that  I  have  delayed  m3r  season 
for  going  home  by  many  months." 

"Yes,  and  I  suppose  that  your  parents  have  long 
wished  to  see  you,  so  that  upon  this  consideration 
I  cannot  urge  upon  you  to  remain  with  us  longer, 
much  as  we  shall  all  miss  you." 

"Your  uncle  is,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  quite  unwell 
at  present.  John,  too,  is  somewhat  under  the 
weather,  and  no  \vonder,  for  the  dear  boy  has  had 
enough  to  try  him  of  late.  It  is  for  his  sake  that 


204  HENRIETTA. 

I  came  up  this  morning,  to  thank  you  for  your 
kindness  to  him,  and  through  him,  to  us  all.  It 
•will,  I  hope,  be  sufficient  to  save  to  us  our  homer 
which  is  something." 

"A  great  deal,"  said  her  niece,  and  I  am  pleased 
to  be  able  to  give  to  him  the  necessary  assistance. 
I  wish  that  I  might  do  more  for  him,  but  you 
know,  that  I  had,  of  course,  to  pay  Charles  Lennox 
his  own  out  of  m3r  money,  and  out  of  considera- 
tion of  his  kindness  to  me,  I  doubled  the  amount, 
so  allowing  to  him  an  interest  of  one  hundred  per 
cent." 

Her  aunt  looked  at  her  in  surprise,  as  she  said: 

"No,  I  did  not  know  that.  I  thought  that  as 
you  did  not  see  fit  to  marry  while  here,  he  would 
follow  you  home  for  that  purpose,  so  that  it  would 
make  no  difference  as  to  who  had  the  money." 

"But  I  suppose  that  you  have  3rour  own  ideasr 
or  business  principles,  which  it  is  not  for  me  to 
gainsay,  I,  who  have  never  earned  one  cent  that 
I  might  directly  call  my  own." 

Hetty's  fortunate  venture  had  quite  modified 
her  aunt's  ideas  about  a  woman's  sphere.  It 
is  in  this,  as  in  all  else  in  life.  Let  a  woman 
but  be  able  to  command  a  share  of  the  yellow 
leaven  which  keeps  life  in  motion,  when  presto! 
even  her  own  sex  are  willing  to  laud  ! 

She  \vent  on. 

"You  know  that  a  woman  with  a  famih',  who  is 
also  her  own  housekeeper,  may  work  and  work,  in 
her  husband's  house,  3rear  in  and  year  out,  with- 
out ever  gaining  anything  in  a  monied  way." 


HENRIETTA.  205 

"'Not  only  that,"  said  Hetty,  "but  their  work  is 
not  appreciated  as  it  should  be.  I  shall  be  a 
housekeeper  to  no  man.  In  my  way  of  thinking 
it  does  not  pay  as  an  art,  for  it  is  a  great  art,  when 
well  understood.  But  certainly,  homes  must  be 
kept  in  order,  family  work  must  be  done,  and  to 
be  sure  my  plan  \vould  but  selfishly  shift  the  re- 
sponsibility from  the  shoulders  of  the  more  able 
"woman,  upon  those  of  her  weaker  sister.  That 
cannot  be  helped.  The  only  emollient  for  the  case 
•would  be  to  so  modify  the  system  of  housework 
so  that  its  monotonous  details  and  its  irksome 
drudgery,  would  fall  as  lightly  as  possible  upon 
servants  and  housekeepers." 

In  this  way  could  the  woman  who  had  ruthless- 
ly played  fast-and-loose  with  her  lover,  theorize  as 
to  right  and  wrong  in  a  domestic  way;  and  she 
might,  too,  be  good  enough  to  carry  it  out  in  the 
practice  of  her  future  life,  for,  like  a  beautiful 
rose  tree,  she  was  not  all  thorn. 

"Your  ideas  may  be  proper  enough,  yet  I  have, 
as  you  well  know,  always  considered  the  arrange- 
ment of  her  home  as  the  legitimate  employment 
for  woman,"  said  her  aunt.  "Still,  I  begin  to 
realize  the  fact  that  it,  of  itself,  will  not  long  keep 
the  wolf  from  the  door,  that  is,  after  all  outside 
influences  are  removed  as  a  way  of  income.  Yet  a 
good  housekeeper  is  a  fine  thing  and  does  seem  to 
be  the  proper  work  for  a  woman,  provided  she 
could  always  find  a  support  for  it." 

"Yes,  but  there  is  the  'provided'  to  get  over. 
That  is  a  great  word  in  this  place.  The  provision 


208  HENRIET2A. 

is  not  always — indeed  very  often— filled,  and  for 
that  reason  every  'woman,  no  matter  what  her 
station  may  be,  should  have  some  sort  of  trade  or 
profession  upon  which  she  might  rely  in  a  time 
of  need;  together  with  all  the  knowledge  of  busi 
ness  to  be  got  at  by  her,  and  these  attainments 
need  not  interfere  with  her  home  duties." 

Had  Mrs.  Desmond  taken  close  notice  of  her 
niece,  \vhen  she  spoke  of  her  lover,  she  would 
have  noticed  the  least  bit  of  alteration  of  facial  ex- 
pression, but  she  did  not  notice  it  for  the  reason 
that  she  was  not  a  close  observer  of  anything;  at 
any  rate  not  of  the  human  physiognomy.  That 
was  not  one  of  her  foibles.  Whatever  of  peculiar- 
ity, this  woman  with  her  preconceived  notions  of 
the  duties  and  circumscribed  limits  of  her  own 
sex,  was  possessed,  the  one  of  a  quizzical  imperti- 
nent look  was  not  among  them. 

She  never  took  a  mental  inventory  of  her  vis-a- 
vis as  to  his  virtues  and  vices,  his  strengths  and 
his  "weaknesses,  for  the  mere  sake  of  her  own 
curious  satisfaction. 

Heads  a  many  might  pass  before  her  vision  with- 
out her  being  able  to  tell  whether  their  owners 
\vere  giants  of  intellect,  or  the  opposite;  whether 
their  cranial  facade  ascended  with  the  height  and 
regularity  of  an  upright  semi-ellipse,  or  whether  it 
•was  cut  short  like  a  polled  hillock. 

She  could  not,  and  did  not,  with  the  immovable 
fixity  of  a  Fowler,  and  others  of  his  kind,  settle 
the  question  as  to  the  ability  or  inability  of  those 
upon  whom  she  happened  to  set  her  eyes. 


HENRIETTA.  207 

Perhaps  all  of  this  was  to  her  credit,  perhaps  it 
•was  to  her  discredit,  but  so  it  was. 

She  bustled  off  to  the  sleeping  apartment,  when 
she  had  finished  her  talk  with  Hetty,  \vhere  she 
found  her  husband  just  awakened  from  a  fitful 
slumber,  in  which  the  delirium  of  fever  had 
caused  phantoms,  the  most  grotesque  and  wild,  to 
flit  across  his  mind  with  almost  lightning  rapidity. 
He  seemed  to  be  worse  than  he  as  yet  had  been, 
so  that  his  \vife  thought  it  advisable  to  call  a 
physician  to  his  aid. 

Affairs  had  been  going  badly  with  the  family  for 
some  time  past.  John,  in  whose  name  the  farm 
rested,  had  been  compelled  to  borrow  money  to 
help  him  out  of  the  difficulty  of  making  pay- 
ments on  machinery  and  other  implements  of  farm 
work,  and  this  had  been  the  cause  of  a  mortgage 
being  placed  upon  the  -whole  estate  with  the  house 
included. 

He  had  not  prospered  according  to  his  hopes. 
Drouth  had  destroyed  his  crop  of  grain,  both 
wheat  and  corn;  fall  rains  had  ruined  his  hay, 
which,  along  with  the  low  price  then  ranging  for 
farm  produce,  had  nearly  ruined  him.  Interest 
payments  could  no  longer  be  kept  up,  until  at 
length  its  heavy  accumulations  caused  a  foreclos- 
ure of  the  mortgage. 

His  father's  failing  health,  too,  helped  along  the- 
crisis,  as  his  assistance  in  a  financial  way  was 
missed,  he  no  longer  being  able  to  follow  his  voca- 
tion as  a  lumberman. 

The  family  had  been  an  expensive  one  for  the 


208  HENRIETTA. 

amount  of  income  received,  as  Mrs.  Desmond,  with 
her  stilted  ideas,  would  never  permit  her  daughters 
to  do  anything  in  the  way  of  earning  a  penny  for 
themselves;  nor  would  she  allow  them  to  do  the 
heaviest  work  of  the  household;  so  that  a  domes- 
tic was  always  kept  for  that  purpose,  whose  board 
and  weekly  \vages  made  no  small  hole  in  their 
means. 

The  Desmonds  in  the  East,  she  said,  had  always 
had  their  servants  about  them,  and  she  should  not 
be  the  first  to  break  the  custom. 

The  place  had  been  taken,  with  an  offer  of  the 
house  and  one  acre  at  the  price  of  one  thousand 
dollars.  This  from  the  mortgagee,  out  of  humane 
considerations,  as  the  land  was  now  worth  a  great 
deal  more  than  that,  irrespective  of  the  buildings 
and  improvements  about  the  place. 

The  gift  received  from  Hetty  \vould  just  square 
this,  so  that  their  prospect  was  not  so  dark  as  it 
might  have  been,  as  they  would  yet  have  a  roof 
which  they  might  call  their  own.  Different  it 
would  be,  though,  from  the  eighty  acres  of  good 
land  once  possessed  by  them.  It  had  been  ac- 
quired at  a  time  before  the  great  rise  in  real 
estate,  and  before  the  rapidly  swelling  city  had 
made  its  encroachment  near  its  boundaries. 

It  was  different  now  as  to  value  and  had  honest, 
but  unlucky,  John  made  out  to  have  steered  clear 
of  machinery  sharks,  he  might  now  have  been  a 
rich  man. 

As  it  was  there  was  nothing  before  him  but  to 
accept  the  position,  which  he  at  one  time  had  been 


HENRIETTA.  209 

able  to  offer  to  others — that  of  laborer  upon  the 
land  of  some  one  more  fortunate  than  himself — as 
farm  labor  would  be  all  that  he  was  skilled  in 
enough  to  compass,  not  having  the  benefits  of 
mechanical  training  of  any  sort. 

Work  of  that  kind  could  never  command  the 
wages  of  a  skilled  mechanic,  so  that  the  outlook 
was  gloomy  enough. 

Poor  John! 

These  misfortunes,  along  with  the  declining 
health  of  the  only  girl  he  had  ever  loved,  and  still 
loved  as  dearly  as  his  own  life  itself;  although  he 
knew  that  her  love  was  not  his,  but  belonged  to 
another  and  stronger  man  than  himself,  was 
rapidly  converting  the  quiet,  plodding  man  into 
a  gloomy  and  morose  misanthrope. 

He  still  went  to  see  Bldie,  to  take  to  her 
presents  of  fruit  and  of  flowers,  and  to  attend  to 
her  wants  in  the  way  of  bringing  paints  and  other 
materials  from  the  city  as  an  assistance  to  her 
artistic  labors,  at  which  she  still  worked  with  all 
of  the  force  which  her  deceitful  disease  •would 
admit. 

Sunset  Clouds  was  the  title  of  the  piece  upon 
which  she  was  engaging  her  dying  powers,  and, 
as  if  the  inspiration  of  genius  strengthened  as 
her  physical  powers  waned,  the  work  far  exceeded 
anything  which  she  had  heretofore  accomplished; 
in  truth  was  a  masterpiece  which  the  world-re- 
nowned of  the  profession  might  well  have  been 
proud  to  claim  as  their  own. 

How  finely  were  the  amber,  the  violet  and  the 


210  HENRIETTA. 

rose,  blended  into  one  mass  of  softly  rolling  cloud 
upon  the  field  of  clearest  blue! 

John  watched  the  work  grow  with  pleasure  and 
delight,  for,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  under  his 
plain,  undemonstrative  manner,  was  hidden  a  fine 
vein  of  ideality,  amounting  to  at  least  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  elevated  and  the  beautiful,  if  he  was 
not  possessed  of  the  power  to  create  it. 

He  belonged  to  the  great  class  which  supports' 
genius,  for  what  -would  that  divine  gift  amount 
to,  if,  upon  the  one  side  all  were  possessed  of  the 
creative  faculty,  or,  upon  the  other  side,  all  were 
so  low  in  appreciative  ability  as  to  not  be  able  to 
give  it  their  recognition? 

Then  there  was  in  his  case  the  additional  incite- 
ment offered  by  love  for  the  fair  creator  of  the 
picture,  the  creator  whose  madonna-like  eyes  grew 
in  lustre  and  intensit}"  of  expression  each  day,  and 
whose  cheek  grew  as  clear  and  vivid  in  color  as 
the  tints  of  her  sky-scene  beneath  her  forming 
brush. 

The  minor  points  of  her  chef  de  euvre  were 
found  in  the  soft  swell  of  the  lake  waves,  in  the 
curving  bank  and  sedgy  shore  where  the  rushes 
and  arrow-head  stood  thick,  as  did  the  calla-like 
lilies  of  the  Nile,  when  the  Hebrew  babe  in  their 
midst  in  his  pitch-lined  crib  under  the  guardian- 
ship of  the  sad-eyed  Isis,  looked  from  their  midst. 

Hetty  left,  and  the  three  goddesses  attendant 
upon  beauty,  Aglia,  Thalia,  Euphrosyne  went 
with  her.  Also  the  fairies  or  spirits  of  evil 
destiny,  and  unless  she  make  for  herself  an  aegis 


HENRIETTA.  211 

of  repentance  and  good  works,  the  gloom  of  their 
dark  wings  must  always  overshadow  her. 

Her  treacherous  conduct  toward  them  in  the 
double  life  she  led  while  on  her  visit,  to  say 
nothing  of  her  base  ways  toward  Charles  Len- 
nox had  left  a  deep  stain  of  disgrace  upon  her 
character  which  time  \vould  never  erase. 

In  time  there  came  a  letter  stating  the  prosper- 
ous condition  in  which  her  money  had  placed  her 
husband,  as  the  head  of  a  flourishing  mercantile 
business  in  the  city  of  Cincinatti;  and  of  the 
death  of  her  mother,  whose  end  had  been  hasten- 
ed by  the  ungrateful  conduct  of  a  daughter,  upon 
whom  every  good  at  the  command  of  her  parents 
had  been  lavished  during  her  childhood  and  youth. 

Lennox  had  gone  West,  according  to  his  inten- 
tion, where  he  was  manfully  struggling  to  over- 
come the  shortcomings  of  his  early  days,  and  with 
no  poor  success,  as  his  natural  ability  began  to 
appear,  under  the  severe  system  of  mental  devel- 
opment which  he  had  adopted  for  himself  at  the 
outset. 

Joy  had  at  last  spread  its  wings  over  the  home 
of  the  Flemmings. 

The  month  of  February,  \vith  its  skies  of  porce- 
lain, its  softening  snow  and  twittering  bird-life  of 
black-colored  buntings;  the  one  in  which  the  grief 
of  illness  and  of  financial  loss  came  to  the  Des- 
monds, brought  to  them  the  news  of  the  success 
of  one  of  the  much  abused  inventions  of  the  fam- 
ily head. 

The  prospect  was  that  hereafter  no  more  pinch- 


212  HENRIETTA. 

ing  want  would  be  known  to  them,  no  more  bor- 
rowing of  money  from  greedy,  unscrupulous 
lenders,  but,  instead,  plenty  of  all  that  makes  life 
bearable  and  happy;  plenty  of  food,  of  clothing, 
of  pleasure,  and  of  that  which  is  more  than  all 
else  beside,  the  spirit  of  independence,  or  con- 
scious ability  to  make  one's  own  way  in  the  world 
without  the  assistance  of  others. 

Upon  the  twenty-fifth  of  this  month,  across  the 
white  expanse  of  prairie,  a  dark  line  of  carriages 
had  cast  their  gloomy  trail  on  their  way  to  a 
neighboring  cemetery. 

It  was  the  funeral  of  Jaax's  wife,  which  was  fol- 
lowing close  upon  the  \vake  of  his  two  children. 
Foul  air,  low,  stifled  and  filthy  quarters,  together 
\vith  a  general  hardship  of  life,  had  at  last  done 
their  \vork  upon  the  poor  victims  of  his  avarice 
and  meanness. 

A  few  months  after  this  he  met  his  friend  Clip- 
lip,  whose  business  he  knew  as  much  about  as 
did  that  good  man  himself.  He,  Jaax,  made  it  a 
point  to  know  all  of  his  neighbors'  affairs,  for,  like 
all  persons  of  low  mental  status,  he  had  no  power 
to  attract  unto  himself,  and  to  digest  any  other 
knowledge  \vhich  might  be  to  him  more  bene- 
ficial. 

"  How  you  do?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  do  as  usual,  "  was  the  answer,  "  but  I  believe 
that  affairs  have  not  been  going  so  -well  with  you 
of  late." 

"  Vot?  "  you  mean  de  dead  ov  mine  vife?  " 

"Yes,  dot  vas  von  druble.     I  mees  her  more  as 


HENRIETTA.  213 

de  children  aber.  I  does  not  long  do  mid  oud  von 
oder  vife.  Von  good  vife  for  de  \vork  is  a  great 
ding  for  a  man.  She  help  much  along.  Mine 
vife  dot  I  bury,  she  good  for  de  •work.  She  work 
all  de  time.  But,  how  is  it  about  de  match  be- 
tween you  and  Mees  Shaw,  eh?  I  guess  dot  she 
never  marry  you,  Clipper.  You  pe  too  slow.  You 
pe  no  pissness  man." 

"  I  have  enough  to  attend  to  my  own  business, " 
said  his  listener. 

"  Yes,  put  not  ven  you  lost  dot  dree  hundred 
dollars  in  de  land  deal.  I  knows  all  about  dot, " 
and  he  gave  a  peculiar  and  intensely  German 
shrug  to  his  shoulders. 

"  But,  den,  I  suppose,  dot  money  what  Charley 
Lennox  gave  you  makes  dot  all  right  till  you  goes 
vonce  more  on  de  speculation.  Den  avay  he  goes 
agin." 

Clipper  looked  in  amazement. 

This,  of  all  secrets,  he  did  not,  at  present,  if  ever 
at  all,  wish  to  be  made  known  to  his  acquaint- 
ances. 

He  had  supposed  a  knowledge  of  the  odd  cir- 
cumstances to  be  lodged  within  the  breast  of  him- 
self and  of  Lennox. 

Had  the  latter  told  it? 

He  thought  the  contrary,  as,  upon  their  parting, 
he  had  made  a  request  of  him  to  say  nothing  of 
the  affair,  and  he  had  given  his  promise  accord- 
ingly. 

How,  then,  did  this  mephitic  imp  of  meddle- 
someness come  to  know  of  it? 


214  HENRIETTA. 

The  question  was  beyond  his  power  of  answer- 
ing. 

It  was  one  of  the  mj^steries. 

"Ha!  ha!  ha!"  laughed  his  tormentor,  "I  find 
oud  all  apout  dot  pisness.,  I  finds  eferydirig. 
Dere  ish  alvays  a  vay  you  know." 

"Some  one,"  he  considered,  "must  have  found 
out  through  the  bank  in  which  it  is  deposited." 

He  had  put  it  away  there,  with  the  intention  to 
soon  invest  it  in  goods  in  the  grocery  line,  and,  in 
conjunction  with  an  acquaintance  of  his,  to  open 
a  small  store  in  the  vicinity.  Hannah,  he  had 
wished  to  know  nothing  of  the  transaction  until 
upon  some  fine  morning  her  relentless  dark  eye 
would  fall  upon  a  spanking  new  sign  board,  with 
the  name  of  "\V.  Clipper  &  Co.,  Grocers,"  in- 
scribed thereon. 

But  here  it  was  all  out,  or  would  be  soon,  for 
he  would  just  as  leave  trust  it  to  the  four  winds 
as  to  have  it  on  the  tongue  of  this  man. 

It  seemed  to  him  like  a  complete  triumph  of 
the  meanly  impertinent,  over-modest,  mind-your- 
owii-business  people.  Indeed,  to  the  staid  and 
observant  man  it  was  patent  that  the  children 
of  Belzebub  do  mostly  carry  their  point  in  what 
soever  they  undertake,  be  it  right  or  wrong, 
while  the  children  of  rightiousness  \vere  often 
found  coming  out  at  the  declining  end  of  the 
too-to — so  to  speak — in  order  to  tone  down,  or 
up  rather,  an  exceedingly  Anglo-Saxon  phrase. 

Whatever  was  the  cause  of  this  sad  state  of 
affairs  he  could  not  tell,  but  this  he  did  know,  that 


HENRIETTA.  215 

it  surely  ought  not  to  be,  at  least,  according  to  his 
•way  of  ruminating,  or  according  to  all  laws  of 
justice. 

But  justice!  where  was  it? 

The  thing  bearing  the  name  was  but  a  miser- 
able phantasm,  such  as  the  Gnostic  thinks  of  all 
things. 

Real  justice  must  have  expanded  its  white  \vings 
and  sailed  away  to  the  etherial  realms  of  Heaven 
at  the  time  of  the  expulsion  of  our  first  parents 
from  the  gates  of  paradise,  never  to  return  till  the 
earth  be  changed  and  purified  for  the  second 
habitation  of  regenerate  man. 

Were  this  not  the  case,  this  philosopher  mused, 
surely  this  vulgar  and  blatant  Tueton  would  not 
be  able  to  hold  the  reins  over  him  always. 

Thus  meditating  he  \vent  across  the  meadow, 
now  glorious  in  its  May  dress  of  green,  and  richly 
embossed  by  the  yellow  of  the  dandelions,  the 
white  of  the  anemone,  the  purple  of  the  violet  and 
red  of  the  spring  avert;  where  the  crowfoot  arid 
saxifrage  were  lifting  their  stalks,  and  the  larks 
were  trilling  their  shrillest  notes. 

He  reached  the  home  of  his  prospective  partner, 
who  had  pitched  his  bit  of  a  frame  house  under- 
neath the  beetling  brow  of  a  bluff,  which  sheltered 
it  from  the  north  wind,  as  it  came  sweeping  down 
the  river  valley  with  but  little  to  break  its  mad 
fury  until  it  reached  this  frame  of  the  lake. 

Samuel  Jones  had  a  wife  and  one  child. 

The  last  was  the  pest  of  the  household  in  a  mis- 
chievious  way,  the  first  was  its  pillar  of  strength. 


216  HENRIETTA. 

Nothing  did  her  liege  lord  ever  so  much  as 
dream  of  doing  without  her  sanction. 

Good  natured  enough,  so  long  as  everything 
\vent  according  to  her  views,  but  \vhen  affairs  took 
an  opposite  turn,  her  wrath  was  aroused,  and 
in  this  state  it  was  tremendous. 

At  such  times  she  could,  and  did  speak  her 
mind,  with  a  vim  equal  to  her  Amazonian  front, 
and  force  of  character.  A  violent  outbreak  of 
temper  invariably  caused  the  slightly  one-sided 
knob  on  the  end  of  her  odd^-formed,  long  nose, 
to  assume  at  least  a  barleycorn  to  its  length,  while 
her  \vide  mouth  would  open  and  close  with  the 
snap  and  percision  of  an  iron  trap-door. 

Had  Clipper  saw  fit  to,  in  a  mental  way,  make  a 
steelyard  of  his  dislike,  with  Jaax  upon  one  end 
and  Mrs.  Lennox  upon  the  other,  the  balance 
\vould  have  been  exact;  as  he  could  not  tell,  for 
the  life  of  him,  which  were  the  more  disagreeable 
of  the  two. 

She  had  such  a  hateful  wa}"  of  obtruding 
her  bold,  visage  into  the  affairs  of  others,  and 
especially  of  those  whom  she  considered  shiftless, 
or  not  sufficiently  worldly-minded  to  hold  good 
their  own  in  life,  that  made  her  extremely  repug- 
nant to  him. 

With  Jones  it  was  different. 

Here  he  met  quite  a  congenial  soul,  indeed, 
one  who  would  have  come  up  to  his  ideas  quite 
well,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  he  allowed 
but  too  much  the  virago-like  qualities  of  his  wife 
to  be  felt  in  his  affairs. 


HENRIETTA.  217 

Mrs.  Jones  had,  however,  always  entertained  a 
•wish  to,  at  some  time,  be  able  to  see  her  gentle 
lord  established  in  some  sort  of  a  commercial 
business,  even  though  small,  with  herself  as  prin- 
cipal dictator. 

By  dint  of  hard  \vorking,  scraping  and  saving, 
they  had  managed  to  lay  back  five  hundred  dol- 
lars from  the  husband's  wages  as  a  day  laborer, 
and  \vhat  little  revenue  Mrs.  Jones  herself  derived 
from  the  butter  of  her  two  cows,  the  vegetables  of 
her  half  acre  of  ground  and  the  eggs  of  her 
numerous  poultry. 

With  this  sum  they  proposed  to  join  with  Clip- 
per, and' his  five  hundred,  in  a  business  concern, 
which,  if  rightly  managed,  they  had  no  doubt 
\vould  realize  enough  for  both  partners  to  subsist 
independent  of  outside  resources.  Erroneous 
thought! 

It  is  doubtful  whether,  under  different  circum- 
stances, Mrs.  Jones  \vould  have  given  her  consent 
to  the  alliance,  as  Clipper  was  not  in  accordance 
•with  her  opinion  of  what  an  energetic  man  of 
business  should  be,  and  she  also  doubted  her  hus- 
band's efficiency  in  that  direction. 

Upon  the  \vhole,  the  strongly  calculating  woman 
fully  expected  that,  unless  the  general  easiness  of 
disposition  of  the  two  masculine  members  of  the 
firm  was  set  off  by  her  own  vigorous  policy,  and 
strength  of  purpose,  the  scheme  \vould  prove  a 
failure.  She,  however,  had  sufficient  confidence 
in  her  own  abilities  to  allow  the  undertaking  to 
progress. 


218  HENRIETTA. 

She,  then,  met  the  future  partner  of  herself  and 
husband  with  a  countenance  quite  modified  in  its 
aspect,  compared  \vith  what  it  had  formerly  been 
upon  meeting  with  the  man  whose  lack  of  thrift 
was  a  source  of  contempt  in  her  eyes;  and  whose 
quiet  manner  and  correct  speech  were  entirely  be- 
yond her  comprehension. 

"Good  evening,  Mr.  Clipper,"  -was  her  friendly 
salutation,  as  she  responded  to  his  knock,  while  a 
jerky,  nervous  smile  spread  itself  from  the  corners 
of  her  mouth  until  it  disappeared  under  her 
skimp,  tightly  drawn  black  hair  above  the  swarthy 
brow.  It  left  no  trace  behind.  The  face  was 
again  its  hard,  natural  self  with  the  sharp,  shrewd 
look  and  querulous  air  upon  it. 

"We  have  been  looking  for  you  all  of  the  after- 
noon, "  said  Samuel,  handing  him  a  chair.  "Please 
to  sit  down." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Clipper,  "  That  is  just  my 
way,  I  alwa3rs  sit  down,  I  never  sit  up.  " 

They  both  looked  at  him  with  good-natured  sur- 
prise depicted  on  their  faces.  It  seemed  so  strange 
for  their  visitor  to  indulge  in  a  joke  of  any 
sort. 

"  We  had  almost  given  up  your  coming  today. 
We  want  you  to  make  out  the  bill  of  goods  so  that 
we  may  know  just  what  our  money  will  do,"  said 
Mrs.  Jones. 

Then  she  turned  to  her  four-year-old  offspring 
who  was  silently  taking  an  inventory  of  their 
guest's  clothing  and  general  appearance. 

"I  say,  Teddy  (short  for  Kdward),  get  out  of  the 


HENRIETTA.  219 

way,  there,  and  don't  stand  gaping  like  a  young 
fool.  Take  a  seat  back  yonder,  on  your  stool. " 

But  Teddy  was  not  in  the  humor  to  obey.  He 
\valked  sullenly  out  of  the  house  and  commenced 
to  throw  stones  at  the  chickens. 

"  Five  barrels  of  pork,  at  twelve  dollars  per  bar- 
rel, "  commenced  Clipper,  after  pen,  ink  and  paper 
had  been  brought  to  him,"  which  will  be  sixty 
dollars.  Two  barrels  of  corned  beef  at  ten  dollars 
per  barrel,  twenty  dollars.  " 

Then  he  mentioned  sugar  of  different  grades, 
molasses,  tea,  fruits  dried  and  canned,  butter  by  the 
firkin,  lard,  cheese,  eggs,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  the  etc.'s 
counting  more  than  the  articles  mentioned,  until 
he  was  through  and  the  one  thousand  dollars  duly 
expended,  its  outlay  likewise  covering  a  small 
building,  to  be  set  upon  leased  ground,  within  the 
city  limits,  at  a  populated  point. 

When  completed  the  bill  bore  upon  its  face  so 
much  of  an  air  of  precision,  both  as  to  cast  and 
elaborateness  of  detail,  that  even  Mrs.  Jones  was 
compelled  to  admit  that  he  had  done  his  work 
well. 

That  part  of  the  business  was  quite  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  knowledge  of  either  her  husband  or 
herself.  True,  they  might  have  been  able  to  do  a 
small  amount  of  calculation;  to  buy  and  sell  a 
small  lot  of  any  given  article,  but  to  make  out  a 
bill  of  cost  of  different  quantities  and  qualittes, 
with  so  many  of  those  disagreeable  little  things 
— as  Mrs.  Jones  termed  them — called  fractions 
coming  in,  along  with  the  prices  thereof,  was  too 


220  HENRIETTA. 

much  for  their  mathematical  skill.  "Bven  I,"  she 
one  day  said  to  a  neighbor,  in  speaking  of  the 
matter,  "can't  see  through  'em." 

Of  course,  she  mentally  cogitated,  nobody  would 
expect  it  of  Samuel,  much  as  they  might  expect 
it  of  myself. 

This  defection  on  his  part  gave  her  110  qualms 
of  shame.  She  was  not  of  the  sort  of  women 
•whose  delicacy  and  innate  generosity  of  heart 
would  have  caused  her  to  wish  her  husband  to 
appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  as  the  stronger  of 
the  two.  His  shortcomings,  in  a  calculating  way, 
was  something  of  a  drawback  to  their  financial 
success,  and  that  was  all  that  gave  her  any  annoy- 
ance. 

Oblivious  of  the  fact,  that  a  woman,  what- 
ever her  originality  or  attainments  may  be,  is  yet 
but  a  woman,  or  the  fainter,  if  finer,  semblence  of 
the  stronger  by  her  side;  without  whose  support 
— unless  it  be  in  exceptional  cases — she  is  alto- 
gether at  rough  seas,  and  that  it  is  no  honor  to 
her  to  be  more  brilliant  than  her  husband. 

She  hustled  about  to  get  the  evening  meal,  and 
as  her  tongue  could,  and  mostly  did,  work  to  the 
music  of  a  pendulum — and  that  a  fast  one — she 
employed  it  upon  this  occassion  in  laying  out  the 
regulations,  or  principles,  upon  \vhich  the  store 
•was  to  be  conducted.  "I  shall  have  no  trusting 
out  of  the  goods,"  she  said  emphatically,  as  she 
slapped  a  couple  of  floured  mackeral,  face  down- 
ward into  the  blue  smoke  of  the  frying  pan. 
"Once  we  begin  to  credit  and  we  are  done  for.  I 


HENRIETTA.  221 

have  seen  enough  of  that  sort  of  \vork.  Out  go 
the  goods,  to  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry;  people  most- 
ly on  the  lookout  for  some  simpleton  who  is  easy 
enough  to  credit  them,  but  the  balance  for  them, 
in  money  or  anything  else  for  that  matter,  never 
comes  back  to  the  poor  dupe." 

"What  we  want  is  to  put  up  a  picture  of  a  dead 
dog,  with  the  \vords,  'poor  trust  is  dead,  bad  pay 
killed  him.'  That's  what  my  uncle  Timothy  did, 
and  he  throve,  I  kin  tell  ye.  He  made  a  good  living 
and  laid  by  something  for  a  rainy  day  besides. 
But  he  handled  himself  lively.  Did  all  the  work 
about  the  store,  or  shop,  as  he  called  it  himself.  I 
shall  never  want  our  place  to  be  called  a  store,  as 
shop  is  the  right  way,  I  am  sure.  Who  ever  says, 
'lets  go  a  storin/ they  say, 'let's  go  a  shoppin,' 
and  that  proves  my  way  to  be  correct."  Then  she 
gave  such  a  decisive  shake  to  her  head,  and  such 
a  twist  to  the  firm  curve  of  her  lower  jaw  that 
her  false  teeth  almost  lost  their  footing  in  the 
conflict. 

The  future  partner  of  Mrs.  Jones'  husband  eyed 
her  askant,  and  listened  to  her  voluble  tongue,  as 
she  rattled  her  sauce-pans  and  dishes  about,  and 
vigorously  flourished  her  dish-cloth. 

If  this  was  going  to  be  the  way  all  of  the  time, 
he  thought,  this  Zantippe  among  women  would 
drive  him  \vild.  His  Hannah  could  talk,  to  be 
sure,  but  there  was  some  sense  in  her  discourse,  a 
great  deal  in  his  opinion. 

This  woman  had  a  little  of  common  sense  which 
rolled  like  a  turbid  river  from  her  broad  mouth. 


222  HENRIETTA. 

There  was,  though,  he  admitted,  a  good  deal 
in  her  talk  about  the  credit  system  to  be  consider- 
ed in  their  future  engagement.  Theoretical^,  she 
was  right,  at  least,  so  far  as  bringing  the  commer- 
cial part  to  a  successful  outcome.  As  to  the 
moral  part,  there  would  have  to  be  a  conflict  on 
his  belalf  before  he  could  carry  out  the  plan. 

How  could  his  sympathetic  heart  bear  to  refuse 
some  suffering  fellow  mortal  the  wherewithal  to 
stave  off  the  cravings  of  hunger  from  himself  and 
family,  perchance  of  helpless  wee  ones,  when  the 
thermometer  stood  at  thirty  or  more  below,  on  a 
bitter  winter's  day? 

It  would  be  gall  and  wormwood  to  him,  he  was 
certain. 

He  resolved,  though,  to  follow  Mrs.  Jones'  coun- 
sel in  this  respect,  as  common  sense  told  him  that, 
with  the  limited  amount  of  capital  at  their  dis- 
posal, it  was  the  only  safe  method. 

Therefore,  nerve  himself  he  would,  to  sell  the 
goods  upon  the  ready  cash  system  only,  and  so  be 
able,  through  the  prosperity  engendered  by  this 
conservative  style,  to  give  where  charity  was 
really  deserved,  outright,  and  expect  nothing  in 
return. 

Let  the  credit  system  be  carried  on  by  persons 
more  able  to  assume  its  dangerous  risks.  So  far 
he  meant  to  profit  by  the  mouthings  of  this  dark- 
browed  virago,  but  here,  he  decided,  her  advice 
should  cease  to  be  taken  into  account. 

To  have  a  woman  of  her  mental  calibre  contin- 
ually over-stepping  her  prerogative  about  the 


HENRIETTA.  223 

place  of  business  would  be  more  than  even  he 
could  endure.  He  would  be  compelled  to  exercise 
all  of  his  powers  of  resistance  in  order  to  over- 
come her  spirit  of  impertinence,  but  it  \vould  have 
to  be  done. 

In  reality  Clipper's  nature  was  about  to  undergo 
a  complete  metamorphosis. 

He  was  about  to  step  out  of  the  anomolous 
position  of  that  of  an  educated  and  refined  man 
who  had  never  before  essayed  at  any  sort  of  means 
to  gain  a  livelihood,  other  than  that  which  had 
been  pursued  by  his  ancestors  in  barbaric  ages,  or 
by  the  more  recent  aborigines  of  his  native  land, 
into  one'of  a  more  modern  if  not  more  respectable 
color. 

At  length  supper  was  announced. 

"  Look  for  Teddy,  "  says  Mr.  Jones. 

"Not  at  all,"  replies  his  spouse,  "he  kin  wait  his 
supper  for  this  once.  He's  all  right.  I  see  him 
now,  sitting  astride  of  the  dog-house  and  eyeing 
the  ducks.  Set  up,  Mr.  Clipper,  and  taste  some  of 
my  home-made  cheese.  I  pride  myself  upon  being 
the  best  cheese-maker  in  the  neighborhood,  Miss 
Hannah  Shaw  not  excepted." 

Upon  this  she  gave  a  sly  but  knowing  look 
toward  her  guest,  who,  catching  the  expression, 
fell  into  such  a  nervous  trepidation  that  it  had  the 
effect  of  upsetting  his  plate  into  his  lap!  Mr. 
Jones  had  filled  it,  like  the  bumper  of  Bacchus, 
to  overflowing,  with  all  sorts  of  edibles,  gravy, 
potato-mash,  cheese  and  mackerel,  along  with  all 
the  culinary  variety  which  made  Mrs.  Jones'  teas 


224  HENRIETTA. 

wear  the  aspect  rather  of  a  midday  than  an  even- 
ing meal. 

Clipper,  poor  man,  was  both  mortified  and  an- 
noyed at  the  catastrophe. 

In  vain  did  Mrs.  Jones  wash  and  rub  with  a  suds 
made  of  strong  soap;  the  grease  from  the  oleagin- 
ous medley  \vould  not  be  removed,  and,  in  conse- 
quence his  best  pants  were  spoiled. 

Mrs.  Jones  was  equally  put  out. 

It  was  a  most  outragiously  stupid  piece  of  work, 
in  her  thoughts. 

If  this  man,  whose  future  destiny  was  to  be  so 
closely  linked  with  that  of  her  husband  and  her- 
self, could  admit  of  an  accident  so  foolishly  care- 
less as  this,  what  might  he  not  do,  as  a  veritable 
son  of  awkwardness,  in  the  way  of  tieing  up  par- 
cels and  other  things  about  the  place  of  sale? 

She  was  more  out  of  notion  with  him  now  than 
ever. 

There  was  her  uncle,  of  previous  citation,  who 
once  had  a  clerk  of  so  unskillful  a  make-up  as  to 
always  tie  up  his  groceries  after  the  fashion  of  a 
sack  with  a  string  in  the  middle,  so  making  them 
to  look  like  the  shape  of  a  certain  fat  old  -woman 
of  her  acquaintance. 

Besides  this,  he  sold  salt  for  sugar,  and  sugar 
for  salt,  along  with  other  most  unheard-of  mis- 
takes, that  complaint  was  loud  against  him;  that 
a  peremptory  dismissal  was  necessary  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  establishment. 

This  same  young  man,  she  remembered,  after- 
ward got  himself  a  position  as  boss  of  a  lot  of 


HENRIETTA.  225 

•wood-choppers,  in  the  vicinity,  and  was  one  day 
found,  in  a  sitting  posture,  -with  his  back  against 
a  tree,  and  a  partly  whittled  stick  in  his  hand, 
•dead! 

"Died  of  heart  disease,"  was  the  stereotyped  ver- 
dict of  the  jury  summoned. 

"Died  of  the  cuss  of  laziness,"  was  her  uncle's 
•decision,  \vith  \vhich  she  fully  agreed. 

He  had  died,  she  was  certain,  from  sheer  want 
of  energy  to  keep  up  the  necessary  friction  for 
running  so  complicated  a  piece  of  machinery  as 
the  human  frame. 

Plenty  of  elbow  grease,  was  her  usual  saying, 
was  what  -was  needed  as  a  lubricator  for  the  joints. 
Physical  exercise  gave  both  strength  and  develop- 
ment. 

Perhaps  this  fact,  put  into  practical  demonstra- 
tion, was  what  caused  the  abnormal  size  of  Mrs. 
Jones'  jaws  and  mouth,  as  they  had  ever  been  duly 
•exercised,  both  in  a  talking  and  masticating  way. 

About  the  time  of  the  dismissal  of  this  clerk 
her  uncle  had  had  his  famous  vision. 

That  was  some  few  months  before  the  outbreak 
of  the  "war  of  secession,  when,  notwithstanding 
that  the  silver-tongued  orators  of  the  Republicans 
of  the  North  had  been  proclaiming  with  circling 
hand  the  universal  brotherhood  and  divine  right 
of  freedom  of  all  mankind,  brown,  black,  white 
and  yellow;  and  the  equally  enthusiastic  Democ- 
racy of  both  North  and  South,  had  their  index 
finger  pointed  with  an  opposing  rigidity  toward 
the  laws  of  slavery  as  set  down  in  the  old  Testa- 


226  HENRIETTA. 

merit  as  a  sufficient  warrantee  of  their  cherished 
institution;  just  as  the  Mormon  looks  to  the  same 
source  as  a  protection  to  their  pet  theory,  yet  the 
mass  of  the  people  did  not  believe  that  the  argu- 
ment would  reach  the  extreme  alternative  of  tak- 
ing up  arms,  section  against  section. 

Secession? 

Who  could  think  of  it? 

Surely  the  people  living  below  Mason  arid  Dix- 
on's  line — those  who  had  been  of  the  staurichest  at 
the  proclamation  of  National  Independence — those 
who  had  responded  so  readily  at  the  call  for  volun- 
teers against  that  uniped  wretch,  Santa  Anna  and 
his  dark-browed  Spanish  cahorts,  at  the  war  of 
Mexico — those  who,  upon  the  patriot-thrilling  day 
of  the  Fourth  of  July,  never  omitted  to  send  forth 
the  incense  of  a  barbacue  of  ox  and  of  possum, 
while  the  rampant  bands  played  the  natiori-stir- 
riiig  airs  of  "  Star  Spangled  Banner"  and  "Yankee- 
doodle,"  \vould  never  think  of  a  thing  so  treach- 
erous. 

During  these  asseverations  and  negations,  then 
it  -was  that  this  seer-gift,  a  fit  theme  for  those  of 
clairvoyant  speculations  to  note  with  care,  came 
upon  her  uncle,  Timoth}7  Banks. 

It  happened  in  this  wise,  according  to  the  old 
man's  vision,  a  version  which  no  one  saw  fit  to 
doubt,  as  he  was  known  both  at  home  arid  abroad 
as  a  person  of  veracity.  A  good  deal  to  say  among 
the  piriey  lands  of  Jersey,  where  truth  is  nigh 
about  as  scarce  as  snow  during  the  dog-days,  or 
•watermelons  at  Christmas-tide. 


HENRIETTA.  227 

He  was  sitting,  he  said,  before  the  flaming  log 
of  a  broad,  old-fashioned  fire-place  in  his  country 
kitchen;  resting  his  corn-afflicted  toe  cautiously 
upon  the  edge  of  the  fender,  while  supping  from  a 
mug  in  his  hands  his  usual  afternoon  drink  of 
\varmed  cider. 

Let  no  one  possessed  of  asinine  propensities 
insinuate  that  the  cider  had  gotten  a  little  too  old, 
or  that  its  effect  had  ought  to  do  with  the  mental 
state  of  the  narrator,  as  such  was  not  the  case  at  all. 

Cosily  enjoying  himself,  then,  with  no  un- 
toward outside  reflections  obtrusively  thrusting 
themselves  forward  to  mar  the  serenity  and  com- 
placent satisfaction  of  his  mental  area,  on  a 
sudden  his  ears  \vere  assailed  by  the  martial 
music  of  fife  arid  drum  coming  up  from  the  deep 
ravine  which  ran  along  to  the  east  of  the  house. 

What  a  strange  sight  met  his  wondering  gaze ! 

A  regiment  of  infantry  dressed  in  uniform,  fol- 
lowed by  a  like  number  of  cavalr3rmen,  marching 
\vith  measured  tread  over  the  dead  pine  leaves 
and  moss. 

For  several  minutes  he  watched  the  singular 
proceeding,  and  then  it  vanished  into  thin  air  as 
suddenly  as  it  had  appeared. 

From  the  time  of  the  fulfillment  of  this  optical 
presentment  by  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  a  short 
time  afterward,  his  belief  in  a  hereafter  for  the 
human  soul  and  a  divine  care  over  things  mun- 
dane was  settled. 

Before  this,  his  view  of  that  subject  had  been  a 
peculiar  one. 


228  HENRIETTA. 

To  him  death  had  meant  merely  an  invisible 
infusorial  migation  from  a  habitation  too  diseased 
for  their  further  support,  into  one  of  a  healthy 
tone,  where,  by  their  own  mysterious  process,  they 
might  contribute  in  building  up  a  new  life-form 
to. take  the  place  of  the  dead. 

The  conception  though,  was  not  his  own.  The 
belief  had  been  imbibed  from  the  teachings  of  a 
German  with  whom  he  once  came  in  contact,  and 
who  admitted  of  no  God,  other  than  the  workings 
of  nature  in  its  everlasting  round  of  cause  and 
effect. 

All  of  these  peculiarities  of  her  uncle  Timothy, 
brought  about  through  her  contemplation  of  him 
in  connection  with  his  business  abilities,  flashed 
across  her  mind  with  electric  speed,  as  she 
gathered  up  the  spilled  victuals  and  arranged 
another  setting  of  table  gear  for  her  guest. 

The  affair  dampened  the  tone  of  coiivesration 
considerably.  Clipper  had  little  to  say,  finishing 
the  meal  almost  in  silence,  and  then  left  as  soon 
as  he  had  made  some  arrangements  with  Jones 
about  the  building  to  be  used  as  a  store. 

Mrs.  Jones  was  disappointed. 

She  had  been  broken  off  by  this  incident  from  a 
most  delicious  bit  of  self-praise  as  to  her  abilities 
as  a  cook,  housekeeper  and  general  manager. 

Clipper  wended  his  "way,  his  e}Tes  on  the  silent 
stars,  until  he  reached  his  home  where  he  was 
soon  locked  in  the  arms  of  Morpheus,  being  much 
too  tired  to  think  over  his  future  prospects. 

Only  until  midnight  though,  was  he  allowed  to 


HENRIETTA.  229 

sleep,  for  at  that  hour  precisely  he  was  awakened 
by  a  party  of  men  who  were  out  on  the  look  for 
little  Ted  Jones. 

After  Clipper  left,  his  mother  had  went  out  to 
call  him  to  supper,  but  he  "was  not  to  be  found. 

In  vain  they  searched  for  him,  and  called  his 
name  along  the  quiet  lake,  over  the  bluffs  and 
among  the  copse  of  the  glens,  until  they  became 
so  frightened  that  they  felt  it  to  be  necessary  to 
call  to  their  assistance  some  of  the  neighbors. 

All  night  the  party  kept  up  the  search,  and  not 
until  far  on  the  next  day  did  they  find  him,  and 
then  only  to  draw  his  half-dead  body  from  the 
muck  of  a  distant  swamp,  into  \vhose  miry  depths 
he  had  sunk  in  his  chase  after  \vild  fowl! 

Poor  child! 

His  form  -was  so  chilled  by  the  wet  and  cold  by 
which  it  had  been  surrounded,  that  it  was  in  vain 
that  the  physician,  who  had  been  called,  \vorked 
\vith  and  stimulated  it.  The  efforts  proved  fruit- 
less. A  raging  fever  set  in,  and,  before  another 
day  had  driven  the  darkness  from  the  sky,  his 
child-life  had  gone  out  from  its  suffering  tene- 
ment, back  to  its  everlasting  abode;  the  day-spring 
of  life's  fountain  leaving  upon  the  baby-face  that 
strange  look  of  quick  transition  from  extreme  an- 
guish to  one  of  glorified  peace;  a  change  peculiar 
to  the  face  of  the  human  alone,  and  standing  iso- 
lated from  all  forms  of  brute  life  at  this  dissolu- 
tion is  of  itself,  a  sufficient  proof  against  all  the 
sophisms  of  infidelity,  of  the  divinity  placed  upon 
God's  crowning  work. 


230  HENRIETTA. 

Spirits  to  mortal  eyes  invisible,  had,  no  doubt, 
about  his  dying  bed,  waited  to  help  the  strug- 
gling young  life  across  the  dark  stream  of  death, 
their  beatific  presence  all  urifelt  b}T  the  coarse  clay 
about  them! 

The  rivers  Styx  and  Charon,  the  gloomy  boat- 
man of  the  black-draped  barge,  the  mystic  legends 
of  Druid-life,  were  but  the  rude  conceptions  of  the 
true  scenes  which  are  enacted  at  the  last  supreme 
moment  of  life,  or  the  forerunner  of  the  modern 
belief  of  angelic  aid  to  the  passing  spirit. 

The  child  was  buried  amidst  a  profusion  of 
flowers,  brought  to  the  mourning  parents  by  the 
han'ds  of  sympathizing  friends,  and  from  that  time 
Mrs.  Jones'  temperament  was  considerably  modi- 
fied in  its  severity,  when  compared  with  her  for- 
mer self. 

True,  the  termagant  tongue  would  sometimes 
break  out  as  of  yore  in  vituperation  or  harsh  in- 
vective against  some  fancied  or  real  enemy,  or 
some  patent  wrong;  but  this  was  only  upon  rare 
occasions.  Her  general  tone  of  conduct  was  char- 
acterized by  more  of  a  consideration  for  the  feel- 
ings of  others;  more  of  a  spirit  of  charity  and 
peace  with  those  around  her,  for  beneath  all  her 
coarseness  of  nature  there  beat  the  mother's  heart, 
and  that  heart  had  been  touched  b}r  the  chill 
finger  of  death,  the  great  softener  of  character. 

A  few  months  after  these  events,  the  astute  old 
German,  Jaax,  brought  to  his  home  a  new  wife  in 
the  form  of  a  Swedish  widow  and  her  three 
children. 


HENRIETTA.  231 

"A  goot  vife  to  worruk,  and  very  sthill, "  he  told 
•one  of  his  neighbors,  after  the  \vedding.  "  She 
yusht  worruks  right  on,  un  say  nodings.  Ash  to 
•de  childrens,  day  pe  all  poys,  un  I  makes  it  all 
right  mit  dem.  I  priiigs  dem  up  to  good  worruk. 

He  evidently  considered  the  proceeding  quite  a 
scheme  to  help  him  to  get  on  in  the  world. 

He  placed  women  precisely  as  does  the  tenth 
commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neigh- 
bor's wife,  nor  his  ox!"  Here  she  is  on  a  parallel 
•with  the  cattle,  and  there  is  no  counter-poising 
command  as  to  the  woman  to  not  covet  her  neigh- 
bor's mate.  They  were  not  supposed  to  be  suffi- 
ciently tainted  by  the  fall  of  the  Bdenic  pair  for 
that,  or  else  they  were  simply  ignored  the  rights 
of  the  human,  as  given  to  the  masculine  genus. 

Love! 

Jaax  loved  his  wife  just  as  the  brute  does  its 
mate.  Nothing  less,  nothing  more. 

Not  long  did  Major  Stewart  allow  his  Anna  to 
drudge  in  the  factory,  for  one  day  a  wedding  party, 
consisting  of  her  father  and  mother,  her  brother 
John  and  her  sister  Anna,  along  with  Robert 
Orme,  drove  down  to  the  city  where  the  couple 
•were  united  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony;  made 
holy  by  the  faith  which  each  placed  in  its  vows, 
together  \vith  a  firm  determination  to  follow  out 
this  pledge,  to  their  life's  end  through  evil  as  well 
as  good. 

Then  he  took  her  to  a  snug  little  home  which 
he  had  already  bought  and  furnished,  in  which  it 
is  to  be  presumed  that  the}7  will,  after  the  fashion 


232  HENRIETTA. 

of  all  good  people,  live  in  peace  and  contentment, 
each  believing  the  other  the  best  of  all  the  world 
beside,  never  to  allow  the  face  of  another  to  come 
between  them,  nor  no  adverse  circumstances  to 
mar  their  "land  of  Beulah." 

Abraham  and  Sarah,  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  to- 
gether with  all  good  couples  who  have  lived  since 
marriage  was  instituted,  should  be  their  models. 

Alienation  and  the  divorce  court  should  be  un- 
known to  them. 

"Flesh  of  my  flesh  and  bone  of  my  bone,"  should 
not  be  a  mere  hypothesis,  but  real. 

What  a  pity  it  is  that  all  couples  cannot  be  so 
mated ! 

A  state  of  such  universal  bliss  perhaps  is  not,  in 
the  nature  of  the  degenerate  race  of  mortals,  to  be 
admitted. 

The  devil  must  get  in  his  oar  somewhere,  and 
he  finds  no  more  inviting  flood  for  this  navigating 
piece  of  furniture,  than  the  \vide  sea  of  matrimony. 

How  he  does  love  to  set  agog  a  family  disturb- 
ance! 

To  tell  the  man  or  woman,  who  may  happen  to 
be  possessed  of  more  balloon  than  ballast,  or,  in 
other  \vords,  with  more  of  romance  than  of  com- 
mon sense  in  their  mental  make  up,  that  they 
have  met  with  an  affinity  outside  of  the  marriage 
bond. 

That  the  partner,  -who  perchance  has  faithfully 
toiled  by  their  side  for  years;  sharing  both  sorrow 
and  gladness,  is  to  be  lightly  set  aside  in  order  to 
gratify  the  most  whimsical  fancy,  inspired  by 


HENRIETTA.  233 

some  new  face  or  form,  not,  perchance,  so  worn  or. 
aged  as  the  one  who  has  poured  out  their  best 
blood  and  spirit  in  the  struggle  for  the  sake  of  the 
disloyal  companion. 

What  a  pandemonium  \vould  he,  of  the  cloven 
foot,  fain  create,  could  he  only  be  able  to  bring 
about  the  general  belief,  that  no  two  were  ever 
made  to  go  through  the  journey  of  life  together, 
and  that  the  command,  concerning  the  marriage 
union,  given  in  Paradise  is  of  no  effect. 

Resist  him  and  he  will  flee. 

His  machiavelian  presence,  though  gifted  with 
far  more  craft  to  impose  upon  his  \veak  victims 
than  ever  was  brought  to  bear  by  that  renowned 
esquire,  Sancho  Panza,  against  his  unsuspecting 
master,  Quixote,  may  yet  be  overcome  here,  as  in 
all  of  the  other  affairs  of  life. 

That  human  tread-mill,  the  factory  of  Dentwell 
&  Co.,  is  in  full  operation.  From  the  lowest  tier 
of  workers,  up  to  the  highest,  all  are  busy,  for  the 
season  is  one  of  unprecedented  prosperity  to  the 
firm. 

Overworked  some  of  the  operators  certainly 
are. 

Their  pale  faces  and  slow  steps,  which  have 
none  of  the  bouyant  elasticity  of  youth,  plainly 
tell  the  fact. 

Yet  these  symptoms  may  not  altogether  proceed 
from  this  cause.  Wages  inadequate  to  meet  the 
demands  of  life,  and,  in  some  cases,  burdens  of 
domesticty  laid  upon  shoulders  too  young  to  bear 
up  under  the  load;  or,  it  may  be,  that  family  sor- 


234  HENRIETTA. 

row  has  laid  its  hand  upon  youthful  cheeks,  rob- 
bing them  of  their  bloom. 

Among  those  who,  either  through  successive 
gradations  have  arisen  to  a  superior  position,  or 
else  have  received  it  through  some  outside  influ- 
ence, might  be  seen  the  shapely  head,  covered  by 
its  weath  of  light  hair,  the  innocent  blue  eyes  and 
fresh  complexion  of  Sarah  Desmond. 

Her  position  in  the  factory  as  a  paper  folder  was 
given  to  her  at  her  first  entrance  to  the  place,  upon 
a  vacancy,  just  then  at  hand,  coupled  with  a 
deference  to  her  appearance  and  bearing,  which 
were  somewhat  different  from  most  of  the 
girls. 

Envy  is  sometimes — indeed  very  often — excited 
in  the  breasts  of  operatives;  toward  those  who 
undeservedly  hold  situations,  in  their  thought, 
above  them. 

Girls  who,  were  strict  justice  given  to  them, 
should  long  ago  have  left  their  irksome  stand  at 
the  not  over-clean  rag  barrels,  where  is  made  the 
assortment  of  the  contents  which  is  needful  before 
they  can  be  converted  into  paper  by  the  wheels  of 
the  hungry  machinery. 

In  this  respect  Sarah  was  an  exception,  Her 
unassuming  modesty  and  nameless  grace  of  man- 
ner, had  won  all  hearts  towards  her  from  the  very 
first;  from  the  impulsive,  \varm  hearted  daughter 
of  Erin  to  .the  finely  fibered,  impressive  sister 
from  the  sea-washed  coast  of  Scandia. 

It  must  then  have  also  been  these  qualities 
along  with  her  purity  and  unconsciousness  of  evil 


HENRIETTA.  235 

in  the  world,  that  gave  to  her  an  attractiveness  in 
the  eyes  of  the  junior  partner  of  the  firm. 

Certainly,  it  was  not  any  particular  claim  to 
beauty  \vhich  might  be  made  for  her.  Her  form 
was  too  spare,  her  face  and  features  too  expres- 
sionless, yet  to  the  blase  roue  she  was  possessed 
of  a  charm  different  from  that  of  which  belonged 
to  the  ordinary  woman  of  the  world,  as  she  is  met 
in  society. 

He  was  tired  of  that  stereotyped  class,  and  de- 
termined to  seek  in  pastures  new,  food  for  his 
erratic  desires. 

Therefore  he  commenced  to  work  with  all  of  the 
powers  of  his  fascination  upon  the  simple  minded 
country  girl,  who  until  now,  had  never  met  the 
man  to  make  her  heart  to  thrill  in  his  presence. 

What  was  it  that  caused  her  face  to  blanch,  and 
her  eyes  to  drop  beneath  his  gaze? 

Nothing  else  than  that  mysterious  force  called 
magnetism,  electric  force  mesmeric  power,  or  by 
any  biologic  name,  or  spiritual  name  by  "which 
one  mind  is  made  to  feel  the  power  of  another. 

Walter  Vernon  was  possessed  of  this  force  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  and  was  as  proud  of  it,  and  as 
fond  of  exerting  its  influence  as  it  is  possible  for* 
any  man  to  be  who  is  inordinately  vain  of  all  that 
pertains  to  himself,  and  soon  had  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  in  her  unsuspecting  innocence 
she  would  be  in  his  hands,  as  is  wax  to  the  worker, 
and  as  easily  moulded  to  his  purpose. 

The  way  was  easy. 

Notwithstanding  the  strong  efforts  which  have 


236  HENRIETTA. 

been  made  by  lovers  of  justice  for  the  equalization 
of  the  sexes,  there  yet  remains  a  wide  social  hiatus 
between  the  fallen  man  and  the  fallen  woman. 
The  fallen  man  may  arise,  in  fact  is,  very  often, 
not  even  considered  as  being  at  all  down,  and  if 
so,  a  hundred  hands,  both  strong  and  fair,  are  out- 
stretched to  assist  him  once  more  to  his  feet. 

But  to  the  woman  no  such  lot  is,  as  yet  assigned. 

There  is  but  one  way,  really,  to  give  justice  in 
this  matter,  and  that  would  be  to  make  as  legally 
the  unmarried  mother  and  her  offspring,  claim- 
ants of  the  protection  and  property  of  the  seducer, 
as  those  who  hold  the  claim  according  to  law. 

To  be  sure,  wrong  would  sometimes  occur  in 
this  way,  but  would  it  equal  in  injustice  and 
crime  production,  the  system  of  the  present? 

Under  such  conditions  the  insinuating  scoun- 
drel, either  married  or  single,  would  be  extremely 
loth  to  add  to  his  encumbrances  as  a  family  man; 
so  that  the  weakness  or  destitution  of  women 
would  no  longer  afford  on  undefenceless  prey 
upon  which  to  gratify  their  base  passion. 

Vernon  did  not  fear. 

He  never  intended  to  become  the  husband  of 
Sarah  Desmond  any  more  than  he  had  his  victims 
before  her.  Therefore,  it  was  with  no  especial 
compunctions  of  conscience,  that  he  sent  her 
home  to  her  mother  just  eighteen  months  after 
her  entrance  into  the  factory,  with  a  check  for  one 
hundred  dollars  in  her  hand;  and  in  one  month 
afterward  she  became  a  mother. 
Where  was  Vernon? 


HENRIETTA.  237 

He  disappeared  for  awhile,  until  he  heard  by 
means  of  a  private  detective  that  the  Desmonds, 
not  believing  in  such  measures,  meant  to  institute 
no  legal  proceedings  against  him.  Then  he  came 
back  as  great  a  favorite  in  society  as  ever! 

A  few  whispers  as  to  his  late  escapade  in  crime 
were  heard,  but  little  attention  was  given  to  them. 
The  man  was  rich,  and  that,  like  the  charity  of 
scripture,  covers  a  multitude  of  sins. 

Poor  Mrs.  Desmond!  What  a  sorrow  was  this 
for  her  proud  nature!  What  could  she  do? 

With  all  of  her  unmerciful  opinions  toward  a 
woman  who  so  far  forgot  the  dignity  due  to  her- 
self as  to  listen  to  the  breathings  of  unlawf  ul  love, 
and  -when  this  \voman  was  her  own  child! 

The  mother's  love  within  her  asserted  itself, 
however,  with  a  lion's  strength.  Bxcuses  many 
urged  themselves  upon  her  in  defense  of  the  mis- 
erable creature  who  really  deserved  pity. 

Had  she  not  kept  her  too  much  in  ignorance  of 
the  ways  of  the  -world,  through  that  very  pride 
which  was  so  much  -wounded? 

Had  not  her  antique  views  in  regard  to  the  re- 
tiring manners  of  young  girls  fashioned  them  too 
much  after  the  way  of  medieval  damsels,  whose 
only  prerogative  was  to  marry,  and  by  this  act  so 
assimulate  \vith  the  personality  of  the  man,  that 
an  idea  above  that  of  the  animal  one  of  maternity, 
and  a  care  for  her  household;  with  as  little  of  an 
outside  perspective  as  the  mole  exerts  in  his  blind 
burrowings;  was  considered  as  unworthy  of  the 
delicacy  of  her  sex. 


238  HENRIETTA. 

When,  although  considered  as  far  too  frail  and 
flower-like  to  partake  in  any  of  the  more  ele- 
vating and  spirited  affairs  of  life,  was  yet  ever 
considered  as  strong  enough  to  oversee  or  perform 
all  of  the  details  of  domestic  drudgery,  and  in 
some  countries  even  to  guide  the  plough! 

Glorious  consistancy  of  man! 

There  was  no  protest  against  the  fair  creatures 
becoming  too  masculine  or  too  labor-burdened! 

Social  ideas  were  in  those  times  fixed. 

Mankind  made  them  and  womankind  assented. 

Who  ever  was  bold  enough  to  connive  at  inno- 
vation, then? 

Mrs.  Desmond  had  allowed  her  mind  to  become 
so  wrapped  up  in  this  mist  of  past  ages,  that  her 
girls  had  gone  out  into  the  world  more  like  the 
finely  petaled  flower  of  the  hot-house  than  the 
rose,  whose  beauty  and  fragrance  is  strengthened 
by  the  winds  and  showers  of  outdoor  life. 

When  too  late  she  considered  over  this.  To  be 
sure,  her  other  daughter  was  \vell  settled,  but  not 
every  girl  has  her  pathway  to  run  into  so  smooth 
a  groove  as  that  of  her  Anna.  When  it  does  not, 
what  then? 

Best  it  is  for  them  all  to  be  so  nurtured,  as  to  be 
able  to  meet  life  in  all  of  its  varied  phases,  both 
good  and  bad,  just  as  their  brothers  are  taught  to 
do. 

The  humbug  of  their  being  of  a  mould  different 
from  the  opposite  sex  should  be  left  to  mildew 
among  the  pages  of  Macpherson  and  others,  until 
it  exploded  from  the  gas  of  its  own  noxiousness. 


HENRIETTA.  239 

Let  poetry  have  its  full  sway,  only  let  it  not 
make  a  sentimental  unreality  stand  for  truth. 

The  business  scheme  of  Jones  &  Clipper  pro- 
gressed. 

Relieved  from  the  officiousness  of  Mrs.  Jones, 
the  work  went  forward  under  the  directions  of  the 
whilom  fisherman,  exclusively;  his  partner  con- 
tenting himself  by  obeying  orders,  he — unlike  his 
•wife — being  far-seeing  enough  to  note  in  the 
placid-mannered  man  a  capacity  for  business,  of 
which  neither  of  them  were  possessed,  and  so 
allowed  him  to  have  his  own  way. 

The  building  was  erected  quite  large  enough  to 
suit  their  purpose,  \vith  an  L/  at  one  side  to  be 
used  as  a  packing  room.  Then  their  goods  were 
judiciously  selected,  bought  and  arranged  in  so 
satisfactory  a  manner  to  Mr.  Jones  that  he  in- 
sisted upon  Clipper's  name  being  used  as  the 
leading  one  of  the  firm,  deferentially  putting  him- 
self in  the  background,  as  a  matter  of  course;  so 
that  the  sign  was  swung  out  with  the  marking, 
"Clipper  &  Jones,  Grocers." 

Mrs.  Jones  was  inclined  to  find  fault  with  the 
arrangement,  but  was  persuaded  into  silence  by 
her  husband,  who  pointed  out  to  her  the  fact  that 
it  was  due  to  the  organizing  power  of  the  princi- 
pal that  things  had  advanced  in  so  fine  a  way 
with  them. 

The  man  was  rapidly  developing  into  quite  an 
active  person  under  the  exciting  guidance  of  an 
inciting  motive. 

So  quietly  had  their  movements  been  kept  that 


240  HENRIETTA. 

few  knew  of  the  enterprise,  until  they  were  fairly 
launched  upon  the  world  of  business  in  their 
small  way. 

Hannah  was  among  the  number  who  did  not 
know  who  was  the  proprietors  of  the  new  store, 
and  she  never  once  so  much  as  dreamed  that 
her  lover  was  master  of  sufficient  pluck  to  engage 
in  anything  of  that  sort,  so  that  a  day  or  so  after 
the  opening,  as  she  \vent  down  to  get  for  herself 
some  tea  and  sugar,  what  was  her  surprise,  upon 
opening  the  door,  to  meet  face  to  face  with  her 
\vould-be-husband,  all  spick  and  span  in  a  new 
and  fashionably  made  suit  of  clothing,  his  shirt 
front  shining  in  immaculate  whitness,  his  hair 
trimmed  and  combed,  according  to  the  latest 
style,  and  his  face  beaming  with  pleasure,  a  feel- 
ing no  doubt  produced  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
wonder  in  which  he  knew  she  would  be  surprised. 

To  be  sure  she  "was  taken  aback  for  an  instant. 

Then  her  quick  eye  took  in  the  surroundings. 

Bverything  was  scrupiously  clean,  and  neatly 
arranged,  from  the  few  barrels  of  vegetables  in 
one  corner,  to  the  boxes  of  sugar  and  cans  of  fruit 
upon  the  shelves;  the  latter  partly  empty  ones, 
according  to  suggestion  made  by  Mrs.  Jones,  who 
remarked  that  they  "would  help  to  fill  up  the 
place,  and  also  give  a  look  for  an  outlay  of  goods 
where  there  really  was  none." 

Shrewd  Mrs.  Jones ! 

The  poetic  instinct,  of  at  least  one  member  of 
the  firm,  was  shown  by  a  vase  of  flowers,  colum- 
bine, bellwort,  painted-cup  and  phlox,  interwoven 


HENRIETTA,  241 

with  the  delicate  leaves  of  fern  and  meadow-rue. 

"Why,  William  Clipper,"  were  Hannah's  first 
words,  "I  am  surprised  to  meet  you  here." 

"Well,  I  am  here,  and  what  is  more,  I  am  here 
to  stay." 

"Got  a  clerkship,  have  you?" 

"A  clerkship?  No,  I  am  more  than  that;  I  am 
senior  member  of  this  place,  as  your  own  eyes 
\vould  have  told  you  had  you  looked  over  the  door 
as  you  came  in.  Clipper  &  Jones  is  \vhat  you 
would  have  seen  there." 

'•Well,  I  did'nt  look  up.  I  hardly  ever  do.  I  am 
not  a  star-gazer,  if  you  are.  But  however,  Wil- 
liam, did  you  manage  to  rise  in  this  sort  of  a  way? 
Bverything,  too,  looks  so  tidy,  and  I  declare  you 
have  got  quite  a  stock  of  goods.  I  heard  up  our 
way  about  the  new  grocery  store  to  be  started  by 
the  Jones's;  but,  sakes  alive,  I  never  expected  to 
find  you  here." 

The  little  woman  stepped  back  a  pace  or  two 
and  gazed  upon  his  altered  appearance.  He  really 
looked  almost  a  handsome  man,  with  his  high 
pale  forehead,  his  dark  hair,  mild  features  and 
soft  hazel  eyes. 

The  change  had  quite  an  effect  upon  Hannah. 

Instead  of  despising  him,  as  of  old,  the  first 
thought  that  came  to  her  as  she  contemplated 
the  difference  in  his  modus  vivendi,  was,  that 
perhaps  he  had  gone  out  of  her  reach  entirely, 
and,  with  the  strange  inconsistency  for  which  the 
little  palpitating  lump  of  flesh,  called  the  human 
heart  is  noted,  she  now  as  ardently  longed  to  be 


242  HENRIETIA. 

sued  by  her  ascending  amarosa  as  she  formerly 
rejected  his  offers. 

With  wonderful  mental  celerity  she  summed  up 
the  possibility,  that  the  case  might,  hereafter, 
stand  between  them  upon  a  plane  with  one  of 
those  musty  old  fables,  belonging  to  people  of  a 
past  age;  people  "who  were  so  skillful  in  boiling 
down  wisdom  until  it  could  be  thus  carried  about 
in  lettered  chunks,  that  modern  humanity 
as  if  doubtful  of  its  ability  to  do  likewise, 
hangs  with  the  .  grasp  of  a  Hercules,  and  in 
which  Clipper  would  dangle  high  up — figura- 
tivel}T  speaking — after  the  fashion  of  a  most 
tempting  bunch  of  grapes,  no  longer  wild,  but 
tame  ones;  and  Hannah  herself  would  be  as  a 
most  disconsolate,  but  of  course,  artfully  repudiat- 
ing fox  of  the  feminine  gender. 

As  if  quite  exhausted  at  the  thought,  and  in  ap- 
parent forgetfulness  of  the  past  dignity,  she 
seated  herself  in  one  of  the  two  chairs  which  had 
been  left  in  the  place,  notwithstanding  the  strict 
injunction  of  Mrs.  Jones  to  allow  of  no  seats,  as 
an  inducement  to  loafers  who  might  be  inclined 
to  sit  around  spinning  fish  stories;  something 
which  would  certainly  have  been  quite  inappro- 
priate, considering  the  past  vocation  of  the  prin- 
cipal. 

Quick  as  thought,  Clipper  was  around  the  end 
of  the  counter  and  seated  beside  her  in  the  re- 
maining chair. 

Now  a  great  deal  of  the  disdain  of  former  times 
had  left  the  worthy  spinster's  mind,  therefore  she 


HENRIETTA.  243 

stood  her  ground  better  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. 

"  Well,  my  dear — here  she  blushed  like  a 
peony,  and  threw  up  her  head,  defiant  like,  as  if 
the  old  spirit  of  trifling  was  coming  back  to  her — 
I  was  to  come  up  to  your  house  this  evening  to 
talk  over  my  affairs,  but  as  you  have  quite  oppor- 
tunely dropped  in  I  suppose  this  place  will  be  as 
good  as  any  to  again  make  a  marriage  proposal  to 
you.  Toucan  see  for  yourself" — here  she  broke 
him  off  suddenly — "Yes,  I  see  that  I  am  not 
going  to  be  courted  in  this  fashion.  What?  Do 
you  think  that  I  am  gawk  enough  to  come  to  you 
'when  I  \vant  any  courting  done?" 

"There,  now,  Hannah,"  he  said,  mischievously, 
"you  have  owned  that  you  do  \vant  some  courting 
done.  That  is  just  as  I  expected.  " 

Then  she  wrathfully  pushed  back  her  chair  a 
pace,  but  her  lover  gave  his  a  hitch  in  pursuit,  and 
again  was  beside  her.  He  had  at  last  gotten  the 
upper  hand  of  his  flinty-hearted  charmer,  as  his  ob- 
servation taught  him,  and  he  determined  to  keep  it. 

"  You  insulting  man,  you,  "  she  hurled  spitefully 
at  him,  "  how  dare  you  to  so  address  me,  Hannah 
Shaw,  a  \voman  \vhose  name  has  never  been 
lightly  spoken  of.  But  that  only  proves  what  a 
wretched  set  you  men  all  are!  It  is  my  opinion 
that  if  about  one-half  or  more  of  you  "were  thinned 
out  the  world  would  be  the  better  for  it !" 

"Well,  Hannah,  I'm  not  very  particular  any 
more,  as  to  whether  I  marry  or  not.  I  am  convinced 
that  a  "woman  is  at  best,  an  awkward  sort  of  crea- 


244  HENRIETTA. 

ture,  almost  too  much  for  one  man  to  manage,  and 
still  not  enough  for  two;  and  that  her  tongue,  like 
the  revolver  that  no  one  knows  is  loaded,  is  apt 
to  go  off  at  any  unexpected  moment,  throwing  its 
electric  shots  right  and  left.  Still,  if  you  are  will- 
ing to  marry  me  why  I  am  willing  to  marry  you, 
if  for  nothing  else  than  the  sake  of  keeping  up 
old  friendship;  only,  remember,  this  is  the  last 
time  that  I  shall  ask  you.  A  refusal  now  will  end 
the  affair  between  us.  Shall  it  be  yes  or  no?" 

Hannah  was  in  a  predicament. 

She  really  loved  him  more  than  she  had  ever 
done.  "Jog-along-straight,"  had  ever  been  her 
motto,  and  surely  this  seemed  a  little,  if  not  a 
good  deal  out  of  the  common  course  of  decorum. 

That  she,  Miss  Hannah  Shaw,  should  not  be 
duly  sought  out  and  engaged  in  her  own  little 
parlor,  instead  of  in  this  store  where  she  had  so 
inadvertantly  come  to  her  lover,  seemed,  in  her 
straight-laced  way  of  looking  at  affairs,  as  quite 
away  from  the  eternal  fitness  of  things. 

Another  slight  hitch  of  her  chair  backward,  fol- 
lowed by  an  equal  one  on  the  side  of  Clipper. 
Then  he  seized  her  hand  and  asked  again,  "Yes,  or 
no,  Hannah?" 

"Yes,"  she  jerked  out  spasmodically,  \vhile  she 
endeavored  to  withdraw  her  hand,  but  he  held  it 
tightly  while  he  fumbled  in  his  pocket  and  at  last 
produced  a  plain  ring  of  gold,  which  he  placed 
upon  the  engagement  finger. 

He  had  bought  it  the  day  before  for  the  very- 
purpose. 


HENRIETTA.  245 

She  loosed  her  hand  and  sprang  to  her  feet. 
He  also  arose  and  clasping  her  tightly  to  his 
bosom  pressed  a  kiss  upon  either  of  her  two 
cheeks. 

"There,"  she  said  giving  him  a  forcible  push, 
"I  have  always  declared  that  no  creature  so  nasty 
as  a  man  should  dare  to  kiss  me !  Let  it  be  the 
last  time."  Then  she  blushed  like  a  peony,  while 
Clipper  smiled  blandly. 

At  that  moment  a  tee-tee-tee,  followed  by  a  loud 
guffaw  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  in  waddled 
Jaax,  his  rotund,  beer-bloated  form  fairly  convulsed 
\vith  laughter.  He  had  been  witnessing  the  whole 
transaction  through  a  side  window. 

He  fell  over  a  peck  of  onions  in  his  boisterous 
hilarity,  sending  them  flying  all  over  the  floor, 
while  he  rolled  about  like  a  porpoise,  unable  for 
some  time  to  regain  a  sufficient  control  of  his 
risible  faculties,  to  gather  himself  up  into  a  stand- 
ing posture  once  more. 

Hannah  slipped  out  of  the  door  as  quickly  as 
possible,  but  Clipper  had  to  bear  up  under  the  fire 
of  good  humored  raillery,  which  his  pestiferous 
acquintance  of  old  saw  fit  to  pour  upon  him. 

"Got  her  at  last,  I  see,  Glibber.  Vat  I  told  you? 
Yusht  so  soon  ash  you  shange  your  peesniss  you 
pe  able  to  git  one  vife.  Ha!  ha!  ha!"  and  he 
laughed  as  loudly  as  before. 

"Put  now  you  musht  set  up  de  lager." 

"No,"  said  Clipper,  "I  shall  not  step  from  the 
store  to  enter  a  saloon  with  you,  but  here  are  some 
cigars." 


246  HENRIETTA. 

At  this  moment  Jones  came  in  and  the  old 
German  went  out. 

Where  during  all  of  the  time  which  has  been 
devoted  to  other  characters  was  Agnes  Flemming? 

She  was  still  living  under  the  roof  of  Monsieur 
De  Ivry. 

The  winter  following  her  incarceration,  as  the 
attendant  upon  her  mistress  and  friend,  had  been 
passed  either  in  the  confined  atmosphere  of  the 
sick  room  with  its  monotonous  cares  or  else  suf- 
fering from  the  onerous  attentions  of  Flavious 
Lambert,  a  miserable,  broken-down  devil  of  a  far- 
away-cousin of  De  Ivry.  He  had  once  owned  an 
estate  near  St.  Cloud,  another  at  that  charming 
resort  of  the  Netherlands,  Ostend,  together  with 
quite  an  amount  of  plate;  but  not  a  franc  of  it  re- 
mained. It  was  all  lost  at  the  gaming  tables  of 
Monaco,  and  he  had  now  but  a  small  yearly  sti- 
pend allowed  to  him,  through  the  generosity  of  an 
aunt,  upon  which  to  subsist. 

He  spent  his  time  principally  along  with  his 
dog  and  his  gun,  a  veritable  Nimrod,  whose  chief 
delight  was  in  scouring  over  the  downs  and 
meadows  lying  back  of  the  estate,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
return  at  nightfall  with  his  game-bag  well  filled 
with  either  teal,  canvass-back  or  partridge,  as  a 
trophy  of  his  success  as  a  marksman. 

He  would  have  had  Agnes  to  marry  him  with 
nothing  to  build  a  home  and  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  the  door  but  the  bit  of  a  stipend,  and  the 
fruits  of  his  hunting  expedition;  but  she  refused. 

Toward   spring,  Madame  Du  Boise   grew   very 


HENRIETTA.  247 

much  \vorse,  so  much  worse  indeed  that  it  was 
apparent  to  all,  especially  to  herself,  that  her  end 
was  near. 

She  desired  the  presence  of  an  attorney,  to 
•whom  she  dictated  a  will;  leaving  to  Agnes  the 
bulk  of  her  property,  and  the  remainder  to  her 
cousin  at  Ville  De  Avery,  and  a  few  days  after  the 
soul  of  the  eccentric  •woman  took  its  flight  to  the 
realms  of  the  unknown  spirit-land;  and  upon  a 
dreary  April  day,  when  the  misty  rain  fell  in 
sweeping  torrents,  and  the  wind  sighed  dismally 
among  the  beeches  and  oaks,  her  body  was  carried 
to  its  last  repose,  over  the  soggy  road  and  through 
the  rumbling  streams,  each  stream  with  a  sym- 
phony distinct  from  the  others  as  any  listening 
ear  may  note. 

The  mourners  were  few,  but  after  the  burial  in 
an  obscure  corner  of  a  Parisian  cemetery,  by  the 
side  of  her  child,  Agnes  planted  over  them  rose- 
mary, box  and  myrtle,  and  then  had  the  two  graves 
marked  by  a  handsome  marble  stone,  and  so  left 
them  in  unvisited  solitude  until  the  trump  of  the 
resurrection  morn  shall  call  them  forth. 

After  this  Monsieur  De  Ivry  had  the  cottage  and 
its  grounds  converted  into  money,  which  he 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Agnes,  the  value  of  all 
chattel  goods  going  to  Madame  L/Hommechapeau 
and,  in  accordance  with  a  wish  framed  by  him 
from  the  first,  which  was  to  prove  for  himself  the 
identity  of  his  artist  granddaughter  across  the 
ocean,  he  at  once  commenced  to  make  prepara- 
tions to  accompany  Agnes  to  her  home. 


248  HENRIETTA. 

It  took  time,  though. 

Several  months  \vere  necessary  before  his  affairs 
could  be  arranged  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  per- 
sons competent  to  care  for  them,  and  before  the 
chateau  and  its  grounds,  together  with  the  planta- 
tion adjacent,  could  be  properly  tenanted. 

This  delay  was  borne  by  Agnes  quite  cheerf  ully, 
much  as  she  longed  to  see  her  friends,  as  the  pros- 
pect of  her  aged  friend  being  an  accompaniment 
was  quite  a  compensation  for  the  tedium  en- 
dured. 

By  the  first  of  August,  everything  pertaining  to 
his  business  had  been  satisfactorily  shaped,  and 
they  took  their  departure  for  America,  the  Mon- 
sieur, accompanied  by  a  garde  du  corps,  as  it  were, 
in  the  form  of  a  stalwart  Piedmontese  serving-man, 
and,  Agnes,  free  to  take  care  of  herself — not  even 
the  parrot  going  along  with  her,  to  annoy  her  by 
his  eternal  noise  and  chatter  as  she  left  him  with 
the  house-keeper  at  the  chateau. 

The  girl  was,  as  may  be  imagined,  in  the  hap- 
piest of  moods,  as  the  conveyance  which  carried 
them  to  the  steamer  on  the  Seine  rolled  through 
the  sandy  roads  and  over  the  heated  plains,  sur- 
rounded by  the  hazy,  slumberous  atmosphere, 
with  its  fragrance  of  amber  pears,  red-cheeked 
peaches,  golden  apricots  and  purple  grapes. 

France!  Homely  and  sterile  enough  in  some  of 
her  parts,  yet,  taken  as  a  whole,  she  is  wondrously 
rich  in  scenic  effects,  and  in  that  quality  of  attract- 
iveness which  causes  her  sons  and  daughters  to 
cling  to  her;  if  but  in  memory  alone,  and  in  dreams 


HENRIETTA.  249 

to  visit  her  fruitful  slopes  and  sun-kissed  vine- 
yards, though  oceans  roll  between  them. 

It  was  also  during  the  first  week  of  August  that 
Clipper  and  Hannah  were  united. 

The  marriage  took  place  at  a  village  some  miles 
distant,  whose  early  name  was  a  most  harmonious 
one  in  the  softly-flowing  Chippewa  tongue, 
but  which  has  been  changed  through  personal 
ambition  to  perpetuate  a  family  name  into  one  far 
less  euphonious. 

Here  they  drove,  accompanied  by  quite  a  retinue 
of  friends,  the  procession  numbering  several  car- 
riages, after  the  fashion  of  old  times  decades  ago, 
in  rural  parts  of  the  Kast. 

It  was  the  way  all  of  her  people  before  her  had 
done,  Hannah  said,  and  looked  something  like 
having  things  right.  None  of  your  sneaking  off 
alone  to  some  minister's  house,  there  to  be  yoked 
together  with  as  little  of  ceremony  as  if  the  trans- 
action which  is  to  govern  one's  future  life,  should 
be  balanced  as  lightly  as  is  the  selection  and  pur- 
chase of  a  new  gown! 

At  their  time  of  life,  too,  the  event  seemed  to 
call  for  additional  attention,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
really,  or  ought  to  be  a  most  worthy  affair.  Per- 
sons then  but  commence  to  understand  them- 
selves aright,  and  moreover,  up  from  the  level  of 
merely  sensuous  passion,  they  have  reached  the 
elevated  plain  of  that  placid  love  which  has  for  its 
foundation  and  fabric,  experience  at  least,  and  it 
may  be  supreme  moral  or  intellectual  develop- 
ment; things  of  which  the  thoughtless,  ardent 


250  HENRIETTA. 

flame  of  young  love  takes  but  little  note.  Also  in 
the  decline  of  life  is  really  the  time  when  the 
companionship  of  wedlock  is  the  most  needed,  she 
reasoned. 

The  day  upon  which  these  long-courting  lovers 
had  fixed  for  their  bridal  trip,  was  all  that  heart 
could  desire,  with  the  late  summer  air  in  its 
dreamy  stillness  resting  over  isle,  river- valley  and 
uplands,  and  the  goddess  Ceres,  with  her  wealth 
of  golden  corn  and  wheat.  After  alighting  in 
front  of  the  tiny  chapel,  they  entered  under  a 
light,  from  the  small  but  richly  stained  windows, 
as  dimly  religious  as  any  of  the  great  poets  sing 
about,  and  as  mellow  as  ever  came  from  cloistered 
abbey  or  grey  cathedral. 

Then  the  bride  and  groom  stood  before  the  sur- 
pliced  minister,  the  first  in  a  dress  of  amber  silk, 
in  trimmings  of  black  lace,  unrelieved  by  orna- 
ment except  a  single  spray  of  golden  rod  at  the 
throat;  her  hair,  for  once  allowed  to  be  loosed 
from  the  stiff  Greek  knot  at  the  back  of  her  head, 
and  allowed  to  be  fixed  in  a  soft  coil,  which,  in  its 
abundance,  formed  a  crown  of  brown,  imparting 
to  her  head  a  new  grace.  The  groom  wore  a  suit 
of  black,  and  looked  pale'  and  grave  as  if  he  felt 
the  importance  of  the  step  about  to  be  taken. 
The}T  were  being  united  under  the  Episcopal  form 
of  marriage,  by  which  so  many  have  made  their 
vows,  as  it  comes  sounding  down  from  the  ages  of 
the  dim  past,  since  St.  John  and  his  followers 
first  planted  the  glorious  liturgy  in  the  isles  of 
the  west,  long  before  Augustine  came  with  his 


HENRIETTA.  251 

monks  and  the  cross  of  Rome.  Then  the  bene- 
diction was  pronounced  over  their  devoted  heads, 
and — congratulations  over — the  party  left  the 
chapel  and  went  to  the  cluster  of  houses  grouped 
along  the  roadside  in  one  of  which  a  public  house 
— they  were  to  have  their  wedding  dinner. 

Such  a  dinner! 

A  feast  fit  for  the  Gods  ! 

It  was  more  than  that ! 

No  banquet  of  Egypt,  Greece  or  Rome,  in  the 
palmiest  days  of  their  ancient  glory,  could  equal  a 
good  substantial  meal  of  modern  days.  Condi- 
tions \vere  wanting  to  make  out  the  parallelism. 

Nectar  and  ambrosia !  could  they  be  at  all  com- 
pared with  some  of  our  present  luxuries? 

And  the  divinities,  who  were  they? 

Not  half  as  good  as  Clipper  and  Hannah. 

The}-  had  too  much  of  either  love,  hatred,  jeal- 
ousy or  envy  about  them  for  that. 

Their  feasts  were  generally  held  to  Bachus  and 
Semele;  this  one  was  sacred  to  Gough  and 
Willard. 

After  dinner  the  whole  party  strolled  out  and 
down  into  the  concave,  formed  between  the  bluffs, 
a  veritable  dell  of  streamlets,  waterfalls,  islands 
and  capes,  formed  and  surrounded  by  the  serpent- 
ine windings  of  a  creek  and  its  branches,  a  home 
of  the  naiads  or  water  nymphs;  a  place  for  the 
blessing  of  Arethusa  herself  to  rest,  as  she  views 
the  fairy  sprits  flying  among  the  crystal  \vhite  of 
the  foam  or  the  silvery  mist  of  the  tossing  spray 
as  it  leaps  to  the  vale,  covered  as  it  is  by  oak,  lin- 


252  HENRIETTA. 

den,  ash  and  poplar,  overtopping  in  their  giant 
height  and  circling  arms  the  undergrowth  of  witch 
hazel,  sumach,  elder  and  willow,  with  their  tangle 
of  vines,  grapes,  bitter-sweet,  creeper  and  brier, 
joining  all  together  in  their  twining  embrace  with 
a  clasp  as  firm  as  the  serpents  of  the  Tj^coon,  so 
bringing  them  all  into  a  general  brotherhood;  from 
the  lowliest  shrub  or  weed  struggling  for  light 
and  life  in  the  density  of  its  surroundings  to  the 
stateliest  tree  of  them  all. 

A  great  diversity  of  coloring  there  was  not. 

August    is    not    the    month    for   a    variation    of 


Purple  and  golden  are  the  usual  tints  and  these 
were  seen  everywhere,  in  the  stiff-leaved,  thick-set 
clusters  of  the  pucoon,  in  the  blunt-topped  spikes 
of  the  one-petaled  amorpha,  and  in  the  delicate 
swinging  bells  of  the  primrose,  and  the  hanging 
flowers  of  the  gerardia. 

Scarlet  scarcely  appears  except  where  some 
clinging  vine  of  Virginia  creeper  is  flushed  here 
and  there  in  its  palmete  leaves  with  a  blush, 
brought  through  the  struggle  between  the  faintest 
borean  breeze  and  the  zephyr  from  southern  lands 
with  the  scent  of  the  tropics  upon  its  wings.  The 
love  of  the  teiidriled  twiner  is  for  the  last,  for  has 
she  not  \varmed  the  tender  shoots  of  spring  time 
and  helped  the  sun's  rays  to  supply  the  wine  of 
life  to  stem  and  leaf,  so  suffusing  them  with  green 
—  animating  green  —  the  color  of  nature's  resurrec- 
tion? 

How  the   amber   sunlight    dances   and   quivers 


HENRIETTA.  253 

over  all,  checkering  the  grassy  carpet  in  a  thou- 
sand forms. 

And  the  birds! 

Here,  far  up  near  the  top  of  an  oak  a  great  eagle, 
with  its  dun-grey  color  and  \vhite  head,  is  silhou- 
etted against  the  sky  as  it  perches  far  out  on  a 
limb,  free  from  branches  and  obscuring  leaves; 
and  looking  down  with  its  yellow  iris,  in  silent 
contemplation  of  what  it  deems  intruders  upon  its 
natural  domain. 

An  oriole  has  hung  her  oddly-built  nest  from 
the  branch  of  a  spreading  bass  until  it  swings  far 
out  over  one  of  the  streams,  and  the  hawks, 
robins,  thrushes  and  jaybirds  have  their  homes 
everywhere,  on  tree  and  shrub,  but  they  are  silent. 
No  trills  of  Spring  melody  now.  The  work  of 
Summer  has  made  them  too  tired  for  that.  Great 
families  have  been  brought  into  being  and  reared 
since  then,  and  now  they  are  almost  as  devoid  of 
song-music  as  the  wabbling  turtle,  the  creeping 
eft  or  the  gliding  serpent  beneath  them. 

High  up  on  the  crest  of  a  bluff,  whose  scarred 
top  sweeps  backward  for  many  an  acre,  a  tangled 
unpruned  orchard  of  plum  looks  down,  the  trees 
gnarled  and  grey  with  age,  their  lichened  trunks 
and  horny  knots  telling  of  a  time,  perchance,  when 
none  but  the  red  man  disturbed  these  mystic 
shades,  as  he  strolled  in  pursuit  of  game,  or  \vith 
quiet,  measured  dip  sent  his  canoe  among  the  tall 
rice  stalks  to  gather  from  them  their  wealth  of 
food.  His  wigwam  was  here,  too,  as  it  was  a 
favorite  spot  for  deer  and  fish,  as  well  as  a  place 


254  HENRIETTA. 

where  the  manes  of  their  dead  might  fondly  visit, 
with  all  of  its  charm  of  the  \vorks  of  the  Great 
Spirit. 

Would  any  one  believe  that  the  Hamlet  in 
its  repose  among  the  wilds  of  nature  as  weird 
and  dreamy  as  the  scenes  over  which  Isis  and 
Osisis  presides  in  the  witching  land  of  the  lotus 
and  the  lily,  the  ibis  and  the  bulbul,  is  almost, 
or  quite  as  old — dating  from  its  first  \vhite  inhabi- 
tants— as  is  the  stirring  city  whose  distant  hum 
floats  upward  upon  the  river's  waves  until  it 
reaches  its  ears?  Kven  so  it  is. 

The  \vedding  party  enjoyed  the  surroundings 
much. 

To  Clipper  the  scenes  were  nothing  new. 

He  had  been  accustomed  to  their  beauties  since 
early  manhood. 

Here  he  had  caught  many  a  fine  haul  of  pick- 
erel, or  of  bass,  snared  many  a  rabbit,  and  shot 
many  a  fowl.  He  said  little  of  this  for  Hannah's 
sake. 

There  \vere,  however,  other  interesting  topics  of 
which  he  could,  and  did  talk. 

On  a  bit  of  a  knoll  toward  the  south  of  the 
hollow,  he  could  designate  the  spot  \vhere  in  days 
past  a  wayside  tavern  had  hung  its  sign. 

Those  \vere  in  the  territorial  days  of  Minnesota, 
when  railroads  and  their  accompaniments  of 
engine  and  coaches  were  unknown,  and  instead 
of  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  first,  the  not  unmusical 
sound  of  the  bugle  of  the  stage-driver  was  heard; 
and  for  the  present  air-cutting  speed  to  travelers, 


HENRIETTA.  255 

there  was  the  slower  and  safer  one  of  the  rolling 
and  swinging  vehicle,  with  its  comfortable  cush- 
ions and  its  double  span  of  horses. 

Those  \vere  the  palmy  days  for  the  country  inn- 
keeper. 

He  could  then  gather  in  the  shekels  \)\  the 
peck,  and  even  amass  a  fortune  at  his  calling,  if 
he  managed  his  business  aright. 

Such  a  place  had  been  this  old  home  of  the 
public,  \vith  its  well  kept  table  and  its  bar,  -where 
genuine  old  rye  \vhisky  was  always  to  be  found, 
and  generally  the  juice  of  the  vine,  and  brandy 
too,  but  the  beer  of  the  festive  German  was  un- 
known then. 

Gambling  was  sometimes  allowed  in  the  less  re- 
putable of  these  houses,  but  whether  the  foul 
practice  was  ever  admitted  to  these  fair  precincts 
is  unknown. 

A  child  once  found  a  piece  of  old  silver  coin 
while  pla}Tirig  among  these  ruins.  It  had  upon 
one  of  its  faces  a  portrait  of  one  of  the  Georges  of 
Kngland. 

Clipper  heard  of  it,  and  afterward  spent  several 
days  in  digging  about  the  place  in  hopes  of  strik- 
ing a  deposit  of  treasure. 

This  was  in  the  days  before  he  knew  exactly  in 
what  shape  his  fortune  -was  to  come  to  him.  It 
-was  different  with  him  now,  but  he  remembered 
the  circumstances  well,  and  remembered  too,  that 
his  efforts  had  been  in  vain;  and  that  after  the 
unfruitful  work  -was  abandoned  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  sell  some  of  his  fishing  implimeiits  in 


256  HENRIETTA. 

order  to  get  something  to  keep  him  from  starving, 
on  account  of  his  lost  time. 

He  kept  this  incident  of  his  life  to  himself,  but 
told  about  the  flight  of  the  frightened  settlers 
from  the  north  during  the  time  of  the  Indian  out- 
break— at  the  war  of  the  rebellion — when  the 
adjacent  highway  was  strewn  with  cast-off  lug- 
gage, in  the  way  of  clothing  and  all  sorts  of  house- 
hold and  farm  implements,  as  they  were  cast  from 
the  over-burdened  fugitives  in  order  to  facilitate 
their  speed  toward  the  seat  of  refuge  further  on. 

Also,  he  could  point  to  the  spots  where  various 
house-burnings  had  taken  place;  where  a  murder 
had  been  perpetrated  in  an  old  house,  still  stand- 
ing, and  that,  in  consequence,  it  was  held  by  be- 
lievers in  the  supernatural  as  being  haunted. 

So  the  day  \vore  away  and  evening  brought  them 
home  again,  where,  in  the  gathering  twilight, 
they  all  saw  the  bride  and  groom  enter  their  cot- 
tage home,  a  happily  united  couple  at  last. 


HENRIETTA.  257 


CHAPTER  XL 

Mr.  Desmond  is  a  confirmed  invalid,  and  his 
wife  has  laid  aside  much,  if  not  all,  of  the  pride 
and  folly  of  her  former  life,  and  with  as  brave  a 
spirit  as  is  compatable  with  one  of  her  mind  and 
age,  is  meeting  the  stern  realities  of  her  situation. 

John,  silent,  patient  man  that  he  is,  gives  all 
that  is  possible  from  his  slender  wages  to  the  sup- 
port of  his  parents  and  sister. 

The  last,  though  is  no  incumbrance. 

She  works  faithfully  for  the  support  of  herself 
and  son,  the  beautiful  child  of  her  misfortune,  to 
•whom  she  has  given  the  Latin  name  of  Guido, 
but  that  of  Dolorose  would,  perhaps,  be  more 
fitting  his  birth  and  fatherless  condition. 

And  the  girl  herself  ? 

Must  she,  in  her  absinthine  sorrow,  like  the 
\voman  of  the  "Scarlet  Letter,"  go  through  life  in 
social  separation  as  a  perpetual  repentance  for  this 
one  sin,  which,  as  a  woman  not  too  impure  for 
motherhood,  has  so  visibly  branded  her  before  the 
world? 

Her  seducer  is  free  from  all  that  can  mark  him, 
personally,  and  yet,  who  can,  with  any  degree  of 
sincerity  affirm,  that  his  sin  was  not  the  greater 
of  the  two? 

A  man  may  sin  arid  sin,  with  all  of  the  impunity 


258  HENRIETTA. 

of  a  Judah,  and  yet  in  all  of  the  righteous  indig- 
nation which  that  worthy  displayed  in  his  orders 
as  to  Tamar  when  he  wished  her  to  be  punished 
for  precisely  the  same  offense  which  he  had  com- 
mitted; the}r  \vill  not  now,  being  able  to  quite 
reach  the  horror  of  the  good  old  Jewish  law,  set 
her  aside  in  their  search  for  a  companion  through 
life,  as  altogether  too  debased  to  be  classed  along 
with  their  own  good  selves! 

Robert  Orme  had,  within  the  two  years  since 
which  he  was  first  introduced  in  these  pages, 
made  rapid  advance  in  his  scholastic  ways,  had 
received  his  symbol  of  completion  in  the  form  of 
a  graduating  diploma,  leaving  the  university  in 
high  honor. 

What  was  to  be  his  pursuit  in  life? 

Like  many  another  bright  youth,  he  hardly  knew 
which  way  to  turn  in  order  to  earn  enough  for  his 
support,  and  found  that  his  career  at  school,  how- 
ever successful  it  had  been,  was  but  the  primal  or 
initiating  step  upon  the  ladder  of  life,  from  which 
he  must  with  unceasing  effort  climb,  if  he  wished 
to  attain  unto  anything  \vorth  the  naming. 

His  fine  poetic  instinct  would  scarce  bring  his 
salt  in  a  utilizing  or  monied  way,  unless  he  should 
select  for  himself  the  very  arduous  and  slowly 
ascending  one  of  literature. 

True  it  was  that  his  deep  love  of  nature  and  her 
\vorks  would  stand  as  monitors  to  guide  and  keep 
him  in  a  refined  state  of  manhood,  in  whatever 
calling  he  might  follow,  but  that  would  be  their 
moral,  not  their  material,  force;  and  if  nothing 


HENRIETTA.  259 

else  were  sought  after  but  what  they  could  bring, 
his  life  would  be  that  of  another  Clipper,  a  state 
he  did  not  exactly  care  about,  much  as  he  esteemed 
his  old  friend. 

As  he  was  planning,  re-planning,  and  digesting 
his  plans,  and  casting  about  in  order  to  see  what 
trade  or  profession  would  be  the  best  adapted  to 
his  natural  bent  of  mind  word  came  that  Agnes 
Flemming  was  on  her  way  home;  indeed,  was  ex- 
pected to  arrive  soon,  and  that  with  her  was  a  for- 
eign nobleman,  who  would  claim  the  Janneaux  as 
kin,  also  that  she  had  been  made  rich  through  the 
death  and  will  of  the  eccentric  woman  in  \vhose 
care  she  left  her  home  ! 

At  first  the  rumor  was  discredited,  but  when  it 
was  told  by  the  Flemmings  themselves,  people 
began  to  believe  it,  and  this  belief  was  verified, 
when  in  a  week  after  the  report  got  abroad,  the 
travelers  actually  appeared  among  them.  Monsieur 
De  Ivry  was  quite  feeble  and  worn  out  by  his  jour- 
ney,  but  Agnes  was  changed  from  the  sallow  faced, 
angular  girl  into  a  blooming  woman,  with  Ionic 
grace  displayed  in  every  curve  of  her  lissome  form. 

Young  Orme  was  seized  with  a  fit  of  love  at  first 
sight,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  object  of  his 
affections  gave  him  encouragement  to  suppose 
that  the  passion  was  reciprocal. 

Love  hastened  his  decision  as  to  a  pursuit,  and 
he  fixed  upon  that  of  a  civil  engineer,  in  the  em- 
ploy of  an  uncle  of  his,  with  the  promise  from 
Agnes  that  she  would  marry  him  soon  as  his  ap- 
prenticeship was  over. 


230  HENRIETTA. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clipper  gave  a  party  to  a  small 
circle  of  friends  shortl}r  after  their  connubial  settle- 
ment, among  which  were  her  old  acquaintances, 
Mrs.  Fairchild,  Mrs.  Babbit,  Mrs.  Finch  and  Mrs. 
Weston,  along  with  their  husbands,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jones. 

None  of  the  Desmonds  were  invited. 

Hannah  never  did  like  Mrs.  Desmond,  although 
she  pitied  her  in  her  family  griefs  and  was  mad 
enough  at  the  man  who  had  wrought  the  ruin  of 
Sarah  to  have  "torn  him  into  pieces,"  to  use  her 
own  form  of  expression. 

Her  manner  of  speaking  ever  partook  more  of 
the  blunt,  but  forcible  gothic  style,  than  it  did  of 
the  smooth  but  less  definite  Latin  type,  for  the 
reason  that  she  was  all  northern,  and  the  myrids 
of  generations  through  which  her  blood  had  filter- 
ed, finding  their  home  always  among  the  bald 
crags  and  wild  glens  of  a  mountain  country  where 
the  rude  winds  of  long  winters  shook  their  snow 
wreaths  over  all,  had  left  as  a  matter  of  philoso- 
phical fact,  these  traits  of  their  natural  surround- 
ing impressed  upon  their  very  souls. 

Good  strong  people,  but  possessed  of  none  of 
the  willowy  grace  of  form,  and  gently  accented 
speech,  which  characterize  the  people  who  par- 
take more  of  the  rich  sensuous  and  alluring  scenes 
of  tropic  climes. 

Hannah  literally  meant  all  that  she  said. 

She  could  have  annihilated  the  father  of  Sarah's 
child  without  any  compunctions  of  conscience, 
and,  although  rather  of  the  catheristic  order  her- 


HENRIETTA.  261 

self,  yet  she  bad  quite  a  good  deal  of  charity  for 
the  young  girl  whose  sin  was  one  of  weakness, 
rather  than  that  of  a  depraved  heart. 

"If,"  as  she  used  to  say,  "God  in  His  goodness 
gave  to  me  more  of  strength  and  of  prudence  than 
some  of  my  sisters  in  the  human  family  are  pos- 
sessed of,  it  is  no  reason  why  I  should  look  down 
upon  others  who  are  not  so  -well  favored." 

For  the  designing  wretch  of  a  man  in  the  case 
she  had  no  merc-3r  whatever. 

The  child  she  really  loved. 

She  had  met  his  mother  several  times  with  him 
in  her  arms,  and  she  so  fancied  him  that  she 
would  have  adopted  him  as  her  son,  only  Sarah 
would  not  part  with  him. 

She  told  this  to  her  guests,  on  the  day  of  the 
party,  in  a  confidential  sort  of  way,  as  the  pros 
and  cons  of  the  Desmond  family  were  flying 
among  them  right  and  left  in  all  directions. 

Mrs.  Fairchild,  who  had  but  little  sympathy  for 
any  of  them,  except  John,  arid  not  coinciding  with 
Mrs.  Clipper  in  her  easy  letting-down  of  Sarah 
and  her  fault,  had,  with  the  assistance  of  several 
others  after  they  had  dissected,  probed,  -wrenched 
and  twisted  their  reputation  with  tongues  of 
double-edged  severity,  finally  laid  them  out  as 
dead  without  hope  of  resusitation  through  the 
scathing  they  had  gotten. 

Evidently  the  passing  of  the  years  instead  of 
abating  was  increasing  her  love  of  gossip  and  of 
truculent  scandal. 

Then  they  turned  to  the  Janneaux. 


262  HENRIETTA. 

"I  suppose,"  said  Mrs.  Babbit,  "that  the  Jan- 
neaux  are  quite  proud  of  their  new  arrival  from 
across  the  seas.  That  odd  looking  waiting  man 
who  came  along  with — with — let  me  see,  what  is 
his  name?" 

"De  Ivry,"  said  some  one. 

"Oh  yes,  De  Ivry." 

"What  a  nice  sounding  name  it  is.  Well,  this 
man  of  his  was  up  past  our  house  riding  upon  a 
fine  black  horse.  A  new  horse,  none  of  Janneaux 
old  crow-baits.  Some  one  told  me  that  the  Mon- 
sieur keeps  a  turnout  of  his  own.  I  believe  he  is 
an  invalid  and  needs  it  to  take  his  airings. 

"Has  any  one  seen  him?"  queried  Mrs.  Weston. 

No  one  had  except  Mrs.  Clipper.  She  had  been 
down  to  see  Eldie. 

"What  sort  of  looking  man  is  he?"  asked  Mrs. 
Fairchild  of  Hannah. 

"O,  I  didn't  look  much  at  him  at  all.  Of  course 
he  speaks  no  Knglish,  so  no  one  attempted  to  in- 
troduce him  to  me.  I  did  notice,  though,  that  he 
•was  quite  good  looking  for  an  old  man,  and  had 
a  grand  air  about  him." 

It  is  rumored  that  he  is  rich  in  France,  and  has 
a  fine  castle  and  lands  there,  I  believe  it  came 
from  the  Femmings,"  said  Mrs.  Finch.  They  say 
that  Kldie  is  the  daughter  of  his  daughter  who 
ran  away  from  her  home  along  with  a  miserable 
poor  young  artist,  who,  strange  to  say,  was  the 
brother  of  old  Mr.  Janneaux.  I  don't  see  where 
the  artistic  taste  could  come  in  along  with  his 
family.  Fine  conceptions  of  the  beautiful  in 


HENRIETTA.  263 

nature.  With  him  they  end  in  the  size  and 
strength  of  his  horses,  along  with  their  ability  to 
masticate  oats. 

"He  is  not  to  blame  for  his  want  of  taste,"  said 
Mrs.  Weston,  "and  as  to  his  admiration  for  his 
horses,  he  is  just  right,  they  being  to  him  a 
support  for  himself  and  family.  But  it  -was 
different  with  this  brother  of  his  who  eloped  with 
the  Madameselle,  who  afterward  became  the 
mother  of  Kldie  and  Camille.  He,  so  Mrs.  Jan- 
neaux  told  me,  was  really  a  genius  in  his  line; 
one  who,  although  belonging  to  the  peasant  class, 
might — had  he  lived  long  enough — been  able  to 
carve  his  name  high  up  on  the  facade  of  Fame's 
temple.  As  a  painter  he  had  before  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Adele  De  Ivry,  taken  the  prize  in 
several  exhibitions.  He  was  handsome,  too.  They 
have  an  old  portrait  of  him  from  which  Kldie  was 
to  have  made  a  new  one,  had  her  health  been 
spared  to  her." 

"  Then,  I  suppose,  it  is  from  her  father  that  Eldie 
gets  her  gift  of  being  able  to  spread  colors  upon 
canvas.  And  he  died  young,  did  he — and  left  his 
widow  and  her  babes  for  Mr.  Janneaux  to  sup- 
port?" asked  Mrs.  Babbit. 

"The  wife  died  first,  and  in  six  months  he  fol- 
lowed. That  was  out  in  Canada.  Eldie  was  but 
three  years  old  and  Camille  one,  at  the  time  of 
his  demise.  Then  they  came  to  the  States,  settling 
somewhere  above  St.  Cloud,  -where  they  staid 
until  they  came  into  this  neighborhood,  twelve 
years  ago." 


264  HENRIETTA. 

"Bless  me,"  said  Mrs.  Babbit,  "how  the  advent 
of  her  grandfather  will  upset  all  of  the  ugly  talk 
about  the  two  girls  having  Indian  blood  in  them, 
won't  it  ?  Now,  if  he  came  from  Canada,  why,  even 
his  riches  and  position  might  not  save  him  from 
the  imputation,  as  we  all  of  us  know  that  some  of 
the  early  French  settlers  in  those  parts  were  apt 
to  have  squaw  wives;  but  coming  as  he  does, 
direct  from  the  old  country,  where  the  red  man  is 
not,  why,  the  spigot  is  turned  on  the  barrel  at 
once." 

Several  laughed  at  her  odd  figure. 

"  Who  ever  started  such  a  report?"  asked  Mrs. 
Clipper. 

No  one  could  tell  exactl}-,  but  it  was  thought 
that  it  was  merely  because  of  their  rather  dark 
complexion,  coupled  with  a  fancied  peculiarity  of 
feature,  and  that  they  passed  as  Canadian  French. 

Mrs.  Babbit  said  that  in  her  opinion  the  Jan- 
neaux  never  heard  of  the  talk,  but  was  certain  that 
it  had  injured  them  in  the  community.  "People 
will,  you  know,"  she  added,  "take  a  note  of  these 
things,  socially." 

Mrs.  Finch  was  sure  that  they  did  know  of  it. 
"  Bldie  spoke  to  my  Klise  once  about  it  as  they 
were  on  their  way  to  school,  and  said  that  she 
knew  her  father  and  mother  to  be  of  pure  French 
extraction ;  also,  that  her  mother  was  of  good 
family,  but  as  they  \vere  elopers  from  their  native 
land,  all  trace  of  her  people  there  had  been  lost, 
and  there  was  nothing  left  among  their  early 
effects  save  the  old  painting  from  which  she  had 


HENRIETTA.  2(55 

made  the  one  sold  to  Madame  Du  Boise.  Therefore, 
she  could  substantiate  nothing.  I  believe,  too, 
from  what  I  have  heard  from  another  source,  that 
to  this  scandalizing  report  as  to  her  blood,  she 
partly  laid  her  desertion  by  Lennox." 

"I  do  not  believe  that,"  said  Mrs.  Fairchild.  "It 
was  all  on  account  of  that  unprincipled  woman, 
Henrietta  Dudley.  Had  Lennox  never  have  met 
her  it  might  have  been  different  \vith  Bldie.  But 
perhaps  she  thinks  as  you  have  said,  and  this 
thought  would,  in  one  so  sensitively  organized  as 
she  is,  go  a  long  way  toward  bringing  on  her 
decline." 

Mrs.  Jones  until  now  had  been  a  silent  listener. 
For  the  first  time  she  spoke. 

"Kldie  Janneaux  was  much  worse  yesterday 
when  her  sister  was  down  to  the  store.  She  said 
that  her  grandfather  had  called  two  physicians, 
but  that  nothing  could  be  done  to  save  her 
life.  A  week  at  the  farthest  is  the  longest  they 
expect  her  to  last." 

A  good  many  of  the  party  looked  at  the  speaker 
in  surprise.  None  of  them  had  thought  her  so 
near  to  death's  door  as  that,  and  some  of  them 
had  been  quite  negligent  in  their  attendance  upon 
her  as  a  person  placed  upon  the  sick  list  among 
them. 

Therefore,  some  of  them,  at  a  suggestion  made 
by  Mrs.  Clipper,  volunteered  to  visit  her  the  next 
day  at  a  given  hour,  from  the  place  they  now  were. 

Just  then  the  men  came  in  from  a  back  appart- 
ment,  where  they  had  been  enjoying  a  chat  and  a 


266  HENRIETTA. 

smoke  among  themselves.  Dinner  was  announced, 
and  \vhile  it  was  being  dispatched,  Mr.  Fairchild 
told  them  the  news,  which  he  had  heard  on  his 
way  there  a  half  hour  ago. 

It  was,  that  Charles  Lennox  had  arrived  home 
on  a  visit  for  a  month  or  so,  and  that  he  was  spend- 
ing the  most  of  his  time  at  the  Janneaux  house. 
Indeed,  it  was  surmised  that  the  failing  health  of 
Eldie  had  something  to  do  with  his  homecoming. 

The  next  afternoon  was  a  fine  one,  as  several 
of  the  party,  including  Mrs.  Clipper,  went  to  see 
the  girl  whose  demise  was  nearer  than  they  had 
anticipated. 

That  morning  there  had  been  a  change  for  the 
worse,. and  from  that  she  rapidly  approached  her 
end. 

About  her  bed  had  been  no  special  prayers  or 
religious  obsequies.  "Formulas  of  the  Church," 
as  old  Mr.  Janneaux  called  them. 

He,  although  a  Frenchman,  was  like  Monsieur 
De  Ivry,  of  the  Protestant  faith,  and  had  adopted 
for  his  creed  the  broad  one  of  Uiiiversalism. 

His  niece  had  been  tutored  under  the  same 
doctrine,  and  therefore  her  laying  aside  this  life 
and  the  taking  up  of  another  was  to  be  done  with 
the  assurance  that  it  was  but  a  change  as  har- 
monious as  are  all  of  God's  laws,  also  without  the 
least  doubt  that  it  was  for  the  better. 

With  this  confidence  in  the  loving  disposal  of 
her  life  to  come,  her  spirit  was  slowl}'  ebbing  out 
into  the  vast  sea  of  eternity! 

The  women  who  came  in   were   shocked  to  see 


HENRIETTA.  267 

her  altered  appearance,  and  so  far  spent  was  she 
as  to  not  be  able  to  speak  to  them,  although  seem- 
ingly in  a  state  of  recognition  toward  them.  They 
stayed  by  her  until  the  supreme  moment  was  over. 

By  the  side  of  her  sat  her  aunt,  wetting  her  lips 
with  some  cordial,  while  her  uncle  held  one  of  her 
wasted  hands. 

John  Desmond  was  there. 

He  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  as  if  intent  upon 
watching  the  last  movement  of  the  soul  upon  the 
features  of  the  woman  he  loved  dearer  than  life. 

Near  to  him  sat  Lennox,  his  head  bowed  upon 
his  hand,  as  if  in  solemn  thought.  All  of  the  past 
was  flitting  through  his  mind  as  he  so  sat,  with 
the  eyes  of  the  dying  girl  fixed  steadily  upon  him; 
and  in  his  inmost  breast  he,  perhaps,  found  some 
germs  of  love,  mingled  with  his  acknowledged 
pity  for  this  young  creature  whom  he  knew  to  be 
good  and  pure,  in  comparison  with  the  false 
siren  who  had  beguiled  him  with  her  charms. 

John  watched  the  fixity  of  her  gaze  with  a 
jealous  pang. 

For  a  half  hour  a  death-like  stillness  reigned  in 
the  room,  broken  only  by  the  sobs  of  Camille, 
who  knelt  by  the  side  of  her  grandfather's  chair, 
as  his  great  white  hand  rested  lovingly  upon  her 
dark  hair. 

Then  with  their  parting  light  still  resting  upon 
the  object  of  her  love,  her  orbs  closed  and  the 
long  wavering  lamp  of  life  went  out  to  this  world, 
just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  to  rest  in  a  nimbus  of 
gold  beyond  the  distant  line  of  the  horizon,  flush- 


268  HENRIETTA. 

ing  the  sky  \vith  a  blaze  of  transcendent  glory! 
There  was  a  pause  of  several  minutes  before 
any  one  moved  or  spoke. 

Silent  prayer  was  ascending  from  the  little 
assembly,  along  with  the  liberated  spirit  to  its 
height  beyond  the  stars. 

At  the  time  of  dissolution  a  noise  had  been 
heard  in  an  adjoining  room  as  if  something  had 
fallen.  Now  some  of  the  women  went  in  to  see 
•what  it  was  and  found  the  unfinished  picture  of 
the  dead  girl,  her  "Sunset  Clouds,"  fallen  over, 
along  \vith  the  easel,  as  if  struck  by  an  unseen 
hand ! 

Was  it  mere  accident,  caused  by  some  natural 
cause  to  them  unknown?  or  was  it  the  mysterious 
movement  of  some  occult  force  to  which  the 
Avonic  bard  refers  when  he  speaks  of  the  "Things 
that  we  dream  not  of  in  our  philosophy?" 

One  week  after,  Monsieur  De  Ivry,  with  his 
granddaughter,  Camille,  and  his  serving-man 
started  for  France,  where  the  girl  will  be  invested 
with  all  the  rights  to  which  by  birth  she  is 
entitled. 

THE   END. 


PROBLEMS 


OLD  AND  NEW. 


PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW. 


In  the  Spring  of  1877,  occurred  the  culmination 
of  the  terrible  financial  distress  which  had  been 
settling  upon  many  of  the  eastern  states  for  sev- 
eral years. 

Some  places,  indeed,  most  of  them,  have,  out- 
side of  their  principal  business,  still  minor  ones 
upon  which  to  depend  in  case  of  a  depression  in 
the  first,  but  this  was  not  the  case  in  the  manu- 
facturing centers  of  Pennsylvania;  so  in  conse- 
quence of  an  almost  total  want  of  demand  for  iron 
— their  one  commodity — the  suffering  was  great. 

The  proprietors  had,  for  the  sake  of  giving  em- 
ployment to  their  men,  kept  their  works  going 
until  the}"  could  not,  without  utter  ruin  to  them- 
selves, proceed  further. 

The  immense  mills  with  their  blast  furnaces  had 
lain,  with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  short 
spell,  in  an  idleness  so  deep  that  the  machinery 
was  becoming  rusted  through  disuse,  and  im- 
mense piles  of  rails  were  laying  about  awaiting 
transportation  when  it  should  come. 

Great  fortunes  were  tied  up  in  these  works. 

In  reality  nearly  all  of  the  money  of  the  place 
was  invested  therein. 

For  this  reason  the  seemingly  paradoxical  con- 


PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW. 

dition  was  of  people  who  were  at  least  nominally 
rich  yet  not  able  to  procure  the  necessaries  of  life. 
Grand  houses  of  handsome  furnishing  stood  them 
but  little  in  hand  now,  as  they  could  not  even 
mortgage  \vhat  was  a  drug  in  the  market.  No  one 
cared  to  be  burdened  with  that  which  could  be 
neither  sold  nor  rented,  and  when,  as  if  by  some 
irony  of  fate  or  malignity  of  those  in  power,  cer- 
tain improvements  \vere  setoti  foot  in  the  country, 
so  increasing  the  rate  of  taxation  at  this  inoppor- 
tune time. 

There  were  two  leading  causes  for  this  deprecia- 
tion of  property,  the  first  being  that  of  the  general 
distress  which  drove  people  away  to  more  pros- 
perous regions,  the  second,  the  fact  of  their  being 
mostly  held  by  the  local  loan  associations. 

They  had  been  built  five  or  six  years 'before,  at  a 
time  when  money  was  plenty  and  no  clouds  to 
obscure  the  horizon  of  prosperity,  and  at  a  time 
when  the  building  and  loan  associations  took  their 
initial  among  them. 

These  were  to  them  a  new  thing,  imported  from 
other  parts  of  the  country  or  from  England,  and 
in  the  hands  of  some  monied  men  who  wished  a 
heavy  rate  of  interest  for  their  surplus  cash,  it  was 
made  to  appear  to  the  workingman,  who  in  the 
old  way  used  to  plod  along  through  many  years  in 
order  to  pay  for  a  home,  as  a  much  easier  way  of 
obtaining  one. 

The  affair  once  fairly  set  in  motion  drove  peo- 
ple fairly  out  of  their  wits,  all  but  a  few  who  pre- 
ferred not  to  trust  to  the  new  venture  but  to  in- 


272  PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW. 

vest  their  hard  earned  dollars  in  the  more  cer- 
tain way  of  their  fathers  before  them.  These 
were  called  old  fogies  by  the  more  progressive. 

Farming  was  the  only  safe  calling  in  those 
\voeful  days,  inasmuch  as  the  man  of  the  soil 
could  live  at  least  until  better  times  should  come, 
that  is,  providing  that  he  had  no  encumbrances 
on  his  place,  and  even  then  would  be  better  able 
to  weather  the  storm  than  the  man  whose  all  was 
tied  up  in  stocks,  of  which  the  shrinking  value 
might  make  of  the  rich  man  of  today  a  beggar  on 
the  morrow. 

The  fine  buildings  had  been  put  up  on  all  sides, 
borrowed  by  shareholders  at  enormous  rates  of 
interest,  for  as  the  founders  had  been  smart 
enough  to  get  the  corporation  fixed  outside  of  the 
law  against  usury  they,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
could  charge  at  their  will. 

People  forgot  all  about  their  financial  standing 
and  the  general  fitness  of  things,  so  that  the  day 
laborer  was  induced  to  build  for  himself  a  resi- 
dence as  fine  and  as  convenient  as  had  the  man 
of  wealth  been  content  with  in  former  times.  All 
were  great  folks  in  appearance. 

The  world-renowned  centennial  memorial  of 
the  nation's  independence  had  been  held  the  fall 
previous,  drawing  to  it  many  people  from  differ- 
ent parts,  some  of  them  intent  upon  turning  some 
honestly  acquired  pennies  into  their  empty  purses 
if  possible,  as  boarding-house  proprietors,  restau- 
rant keepers,  shopmen,  or  anything  appropriate 
to  the  demands  of  the  occasion. 


PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW.  273 

These,  when  the  fair  was  over,  found  themselves 
so  little  remunerated  by  their  venture  that  not  a 
few  were  unable  to  get  back  to  their  home,  except 
as  the  kindness  of  some  more  affluent  friend  would 
send  them  a  means  of  railway  travel,  or  lack- 
ing in  such  friend  was  compelled  to  walk  the 
distance,  hundreds  of  miles,  perhaps,  arid  to  make 
affairs  still  \vorse  the  authorities  of  different  cities 
passed  laws  to  expel  from  their  limits  all  persons 
found  \vandering  about  in  an  unemployed  state, 
even  stipulating  in  addition  to  use  the  railroad 
magnates,  or  officials,  to  carry  off  their  surplus 
population  into  the  country.  By  this  means  these 
people  were  dropped  in  squads  all  along  the  line, 
a  burden  to  the  farmers  and  villagers,  and  a  pro- 
lific source  for  the  increase  of  crime  of  all  sorts, 
and  was  one  of  the  causes  which  have  brought 
about  the  great  army  of  workless  men  known  as 
tramps. 

Then  came  the  great  strike,  originated  by  the 
railroad  engineers,  whence  it  spread  into  all 
departments  of  labor,  its  greatest  force  concentrat- 
ing in  populous  Pennsylvania. 

These  \vere  sad  days  for  the  old  Keystone  state, 
she  who  in  times  past  had  been  among  the  most 
prosperous  of  the  Union,  was  now  so  racked  that 
many  of  her  strong  men  reeled  in  the  giddiness 
of  despair,  \vhile  among  the  weak,  blank  want  had 
brought  its  attendent  evils  of  crime,  insanity  and 
suicide. 

Bread !  bread !  was  the  cry  in  once  happy 
and  thriving  America ! 


274  PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEIV. 

The  riot  at  Pittsburg  occurred,  wherein  the 
maddened  mob  destroyed  in  a  few  hours  a  million 
of  property.  Railways  \vere  demolished,  trains  of 
cars  turned  bodihy  off  their  track,  until  the  state 
troops  were  called  upon  to  quell  the  fur}'  by  war- 
like methods,  many  of  the  soldiers,  in  sympathy 
with  the  people,  refusing  to  act,  thus  doing  poor 
service  to  the  government. 

Telegraph  communication  was  cut  off  from 
place  to  place  in  order  to  prevent  news  of  the 
disturbance  from  spreading,  but  it  was  too  late. 

In  the  city  of  Scranton  so  great  was  the  ti'ouble 
that  the  Governor  of  the  State  went  to  them  as  an 
advisor  along  \vith  the  soldiers.  His  advice  was, 
in  addressing  a  body  of  mine  proprietors,  "Give  to 
these  people  a  sufficiency'  of  provisions  for  them- 
selves arid  families,  otherwise  I  shall  withdraw 
from  your  borders  the  aid  of  the  military  and 
leave  you  to  the  mercy  of  the  starving!" 

At  another  time,  in  an  address,  he  said,  "The 
masses  are  becoming  enlightened  and  this  is  the 
effect." 

His  words  implied  that  the  days  of  vassalege 
are  over,  and  though  the  dream  of  the  socialist 
must  remain  but  a  dream,  yet  in  the  future  De- 
mocracy must  not  be  choked  into  a  mere  sound  of 
mocker}-,  but  that  its  spirit  must  be  acknowledged 
in  the  universal  sentiment  which  will  accord,  at 
all  times,  a  means  of  life  to  all  men. 

Freedom  !  equal  rights  to  all ! 

These  were  the  watchwords  under  which,  as 
American  citizens  they  had  been  fostered,  but 


PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW.  275 

what  meaning  had  they  now  to  these  starving 
people.  The  real  sentiment  of  some  who  might 
have  relieved  their  suffering  was:  Live  upon  air 
if  you  can,  otherwise  die  of  destitution  or  destroy 
yourself  in  your  grief. 

One  newspaper  advocated  the  shooting  of 
beggars  in  the  streets  of  New  York,  with  as  little 
ceremony  as  was  allowed  to  unlicensed  dogs,  and 
at  another  time  rejoiced  in  flaming  headlines  over 
the  immense  number  of  sheriff's  sales  ! 

No  wonder  that  the  suffering  people  \vere  exas- 
perated beyond  endurance. 

These  conditions  furnished  a  fit  season  for  a 
general  grab  by  the  greedy  and  unscrupulous  who 
were  determined  to  enlarge  their  possessions  at 
all  hazards. 

True  it  was  that  iri  the  case  of  the  building  asso- 
ciations, all  were  considered  as  members  of  a  firm 
united  for  mutual  benefit,  but  the  reciprocity  con- 
tinued only  so  long  as  all  was  flourishing,  and 
when  money  ceased  to  flow  in  there  was  a  turn  in 
the  tide  of  brotherly  feeling,  so  that  the  weaker 
part  of  the  fraternity  were,  after  a  figure,  like  as 
many  fish  stranded  upon  the  shore  with  a  net  in 
the  hands  of  the  stronger  part  tightly  drawn 
about  them.  They  might  flounder  and  writhe  in 
their  agony,  but  there  was  no  mercy. 

In  the  town  of  I) —  -  a  number  of  workless  men 
set  forth  their  wretched  condition  and  their  utter 
inability  to  keep  up  the  monthly  dues,  praying  for 
a  suspension  of  business  transactions  at  the  time, 
and  that  the}'  be  permitted  to  remain  in  their 


276  PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW. 

homes  until  a  period  when  they  might  resume 
payments. 

The  petition  was  unheeded  among  the  non-bor- 
rowers, who  were  not  thus  to  be  balked  in  their 
schemes  of  a  vast  profit  from  their  money.  "Our 
cash  returned  with  its  great  interest  or  else  the 
property  is  ours,"  was  the  cry;  said  properties,  in 
varying  degrees,  representing  much  more  in  value 
than  the  original  purchase  money,  this  fact  in- 
creasing the  temptation  for  seizure. 

Many  had  owned  the  ground  upon  which  the 
building  was  set,  but  all  was  given  as  security  to 
the  lenders,  while  others  had  put  extra  additions 
to  their  homes  and  much  labor  and  expense  upon 
the  surroundings,  causing  them  to  be  a  very 
representation  of  thrift. 

Kxecutions  proceeded  in  due  order  as  one  delin- 
quent after  another  appeared  upon  the  list,  so  that 
the  sheriff  with  his  notice,  and  the  constable  with 
his  officers  were  the  bug-bears  which,  either  in 
fact  or  in  expectation,  kept  the  men  in  a  state  of 
sullen  despair  and  the  women  in  one  of  terror. 
These  officials,  with  lawj'ers  and  tax  collectors, 
\vere  the  only  busy  people  to  be  found,  but  in  time 
the  greedy  mortgagors  saw  their  mistake. 

One  entire  suburb — a  village  in  itself — passed 
into  their  hands,  and  the  consequence  was  that  as 
many  of  the  inhabitants  who  could  get  means 
sufficient,  left  for  the  west  or  south,  and  as  ten- 
ants could  not  be  found  for  the  vacated  buildings, 
upon  which  insurance  was  hard  to  pay,  the  place 
fell  into  general  ruin,  leaving  the  owners  with  a 


PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW.  277 

load  of  valueless  property  upon  their  hands,  of 
which  they  were  willing  to  rid  themselves  at  any 
cost. 

At  the  contingent  manufacturing  town  the  en- 
sign of  distress  was  also  raised  and  confusion 
most  dire  prevailed. 

The  wild  mob,  maddened  by  the  pangs  of  hun- 
ger, took  possession  of  the  only  place  of  military 
furiiishment  that  the  place  afforded,  armed  them- 
selves with  rifles  and  revolvers,  together  with  a 
store  of  ammunition,  and  thus  fortified  paraded 
the  streets  in  an  attitude  of  threatening  until  a 
meeting  of  leading  citizens  was  called  who  de- 
manded a  cause  for  the  rash  movement  of  these 
work-people,  whose  real  condition  was  kept  from 
them  by  the  fact  that  their  place  of  residence  was 
set  apart  from  the  more  aristocratic  portions  of 
the  place. 

Then  one  after  another  told  their  condition  of 
almost  universal  sameness,  the  most  startling  and 
appalling  feature  being  a  statement  by  some  that 
themselves  and  children  had  for  several  days 
had  no  nourishment  but  that  which  was  afforded 
by  mountain  tea! 

Ignorant !  thriftless  !  the  slums  ! 

Perhaps  they  were  or  perhaps  they  were  not, 
but  all  events  they  yet  belonged  to  the  great 
brotherhood  of  mankind,  and  so  were  worthy  of 
of  consideration,  and  they  are  not  at  all  times  to 
blame  for  coming  into  a  state  of  destitution,  espec- 
ially during  a  time  of  financial  stringency;  as 
they  belong,  many  of  them  to  a  class  who  are 


278  PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW. 

poor,  not  so  much  from  laziness  as  from  a  de- 
ficiency in  that  selfish  greed  so  necessary  in  per- 
sons of  their  class  who  wish  to  get  anything 
beyond  their  daily  needs,  and  even  in  the  case  of 
the  spendthrift,  his  expenditures  only  pass  into 
the  hands  of  those  more  fitted  to  get  and  to  keep. 

These  people  were  easily  satisfied. 

With  a  spirit  placable  enough  to  merit  the 
phrase  applied  their  compeers  of  old  in  France, 
"Bonne  Homme  Jacques,"  they  accepted  the 
meager  wages  which  \vould  accrue  from  a  labor 
of  two  days  out  of  each  week  at  one  dollar  and  a 
half  per  day  upon  the  streets.  This  is  to  the  head 
of  a  family. 

To  a  strong  lover  of  life  it  was  better  than  death, 
as  it  might  by  judicious  expenditure  keep  body 
and  soul  together. 

These  wretched  conditions  were  new  ones  in 
America,  new  to  her  people,  although  some  of 
them  had  read  of  like  times  in  England  when 
Jack  Cada  and  Wat  Tyler  at  different  times  led 
their  hungry  followers  to  London;  also  the  same  in 
pleasure-loving,  impetuous,  unstable  France,  at 
the  time  of  Marcel,  Robespierre,  Danton  and 
others,  and  shuddered  to  think  that  in  their  own 
land  affairs  should  approach  anything  like  those 
bygone  days. 

What  is  the  cure  for  such  national  griefs?  it 
may  be  asked. 

Knlightment  for  all  is  the  only  remedy.  Not 
only  in  the  book-learning  of  our  schools,  but  also, 
of  each  sex  among  all  classes,  in  the  workings  of 


PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  XKIV.  279 

both  corporation  nml  state  laws,  and  in  a  stronger 
sense  of  Christian  duty,  one  to  another,  than  has 
as  yet  dawned  upon  our  world's  horizon  despite 
all  of  the  money  spent  in  the  erection  of  churches. 
To  these  last,  and  to  parents,  belong  much  of  the 
solving  of  the  labor  problem,  but  parents  cannot 
properly  assist  the  schools  in  training  their  child- 
ren unless  they  be  first  informed  themselves. 
Therefore  read  for  eiilightrneiit's  sake. 

The  household  wherein  110  good  reading  is  doiit; 
is  a  poor  one,  though  it  possess  millions  in 
money! 

It  was  through  the  cause  of  this  struggle  that 
the  banking  house  of  Isaacs  &  Company  collapsed, 
causing  the  beautiful  arid  accomplished  daugh- 
ter of  the  senior  member  to  retire  from  a  world  of 
fashion  to  one  of  poverty  and  of  meditation, 
where  came  to  her  revelations  from  the  invisible 
world,  wrought  by  invisible  powers,  and  which  fell 
upon  her  with  astounding  surprise,  inasmuch  as 
in  the  religious  training  which  she  had  received 
among  her  people  of  the  synagogue  of  Israel,  no 
mention  had  been  made  of  such  occult  manifesta- 
tions, neither  among  the  Christian  sects  had  she 
ever  heard  anything  of  the  kind;  and  except 
some  vague  rumors  which  had  reached  her  ears 
from  spiritual  circles  as  to  the  doctrines  of  a 
mystic  world,  all  was  darkness  to  her  until,  by  an 
intent  searching  among  the  prophetic  writings 
the  mystery  was  made  clear  to  her  understanding, 
according  to  Jewish  conception,  but  was  the 
mysterious  force  the  same  Supreme  Fatherhood 


280  PROBLEMS  OLD  AND  NEW. 

working  through  the  phenomena  of  miracles  to  all 
people  and  throughout  all  times  according  to 
their  power  of  reception  and  seeking  as  media 
such  as  had  overcome  sufficiently  to  reconcile  the 
natural  with  the  spiritual  law? 

Her  strongly  reasoning  mind  told  her  that  this 
solution  must  be  the  right  one,  only  it  had  been  a 
severe  task  for  her  intellectual  and  moral  nature 
to  work  it  out  all  unaided  by  superior  lights;  also, 
ehe  believed  it  possible  for  some  to  be  able, 
through  interior  development,  to  receive  and  yet 
not  be  able  through  search  to  hear  the  divine 
voice,  and  to  such  how  dire  might  be  the  conse- 
quences! 

THE   END. 


*    000103247     3 


